Walmart seeking tech pitches

Wal-Mart Stores is inviting tech entrepreneurs to present their ideas and inventions for possible application in the retailer's stores, warehouses and back office operations.

More than 100 Walmart technologists and other officials are expected to review up to 250 submissions and meet with companies in October as part of the company's first Technology Innovation Open Call, run through its Lab 415-C, where the retailer tests and develops technology and solutions for retail, logistics, big data, security and social media. Lab 415-C is named after company founder Sam Walton's airplane, which he used to scout potential store locations.

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“As part of Walmart Technology, Lab 415-C actively seeks to engage emerging technology in order to better understand how to serve our customers,” Tom Douglass, director of Walmart Lab 415-C, said. “Our goal in the event is not only to offer these companies a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but to keep Walmart on the cutting edge of technology.”

The event is part of the 2016 Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit hosted by the Northwest Arkansas Technology Council as part of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce.