A smarter, stronger supply chain

American innovation has always been part of the heartbeat of progress — from the garage tinkerers of Silicon Valley to the moonshot dreamers who reimagine what’s possible. But today, the next wave of U.S. innovation isn’t just about faster chips or shinier gadgets — it’s about building a sustainable, resilient future. 

During Open Call 2025, we invited 13 innovators to share how they’re building that future today. These visionaries are rewriting the rules of materials science and manufacturing, creating solutions that could redefine how we eat, what we wear and ways to color our world. Each company is tackling real-world challenges with creativity, conviction and grit, and as we explore what’s next, meet a few of the thinkers showing us what’s possible when innovation and purpose collide.

Plantible Foods

In a world hungry for more sustainable protein, Plantible Foods aims to deliver. By unlocking the power of Lemna, or duckweed — one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth — Plantible Foods produces Rubi Protein™, a clean, allergen-free alternative to egg, soy, whey and pea proteins. This tiny aquatic plant grows on water, not land, and thrives on just a fraction of the H₂O needed by many conventional protein sources. That’s protein packing a positive punch.

But what makes Rubi Protein™ really exciting isn’t just the sustainability stats. It can whip, gel and bind like egg whites, making it an excellent replacement for animal protein in foods from baked goods to dairy and meat alternatives. And as the global population races toward 10 billion by 2050, food demand could surge by as much as 70%. Plantible’s innovation could support this need in a more sustainable way, helping nourish both people and planet. In the not-so-far future, your morning muffin or sandwich bread might owe their fluff to a tiny plant that grows on ponds.

Eager for a taste? Flax 4 Life, an allergen-friendly food company that uses Plantible’s Rubi Protein™ in its products, received a Golden Ticket during Open Call 2025 — a major milestone in their journey to Walmart shelves.  

Keel Labs

Forget polyester and cotton, the future of fashion may come from below sea-level. Keel Labs is redefining textiles with its hero material Kelsun®, a fiber spun from seaweed biopolymers (i.e., kelp). The result? A fiber that feels natural, weaves beautifully and has a far smaller environmental footprint compared to traditional fibers.

Seaweed grows 12–18 inches a day, requires no fresh water or fertilizers and actually removes CO₂ from the atmosphere as it grows. In an industry looking to lighten its environmental load, that kind of natural overachiever is hard to ignore. Kelsun® is not only 100% biobased and biodegradable but also designed to slot directly into existing spinning and weaving systems — a plug-and-play solution for the next chapter in apparel. It’s fashion innovation with real depth.

PrismBio

From the food on your plate to the paint on your walls, color is everywhere, and PrismBio wants to make it smarter, cleaner and more alive. This biotech company has created a platform for pigments derived from plant and microbial proteins, capable of producing every color on the visible spectrum through natural fermentation processes. In layman’s terms, think of it as tapping into the coloring systems used by plants and algae and using those systems to color our world.

Here’s why that’s a big deal: most pigments are petrochemical-based, and the hunt is on for cleaner alternatives to help phase out artificial dyes. PrismBio’s tech offers natural, biodegradable colorants that can replace synthetic dyes in food, textiles, cosmetics and paints. As an added cool factor, the company’s proprietary ColorSwitch technology offers color-shifting effects that respond to light and pH, tech that could one day power dynamic fabrics, adaptive packaging or health diagnostics that literally change color to show what’s happening inside your body.

It’s science fiction made tangible — a fusion of biology and design that turns color into a living technology.

The bigger picture

The innovators we met at Open Call share a mission: to revolutionize industries from the molecular level up. Each is proof that the spirit of American innovation isn’t just alive, it’s evolving — getting cleaner, bolder and even more human-centered. In an era defined by resource urgency and creative possibility, these are innovators worth watching — and cheering for.

Know an innovation Walmart should take a look at? Share it with our team.