smartTONi SA is a Swiss technology firm that has positioned itself at the forefront of the 'FoodTech' movement. Based in the innovation hub of Lausanne, the company focuses on the digitalization of back-of-house operations in the hospitality industry. Its core mission is to solve the operational chaos of high-volume kitchens by applying rigorous process management principles typically seen in industrial manufacturing. The company is led by a team with a background in both gastronomy and software engineering, allowing them to create tools that are practical for chefs but robust for IT departments. smartTONi's market position is unique because it moves beyond being a mere 'record-keeping' tool to being an 'execution engine' that drives real-time behavior in the kitchen. In recent years, it has become a preferred partner for ghost kitchens and system gastronomy brands across Europe that require standardized quality control across fragmented networks.
The company was founded in 2019 by Lorenz Bertschi, a visionary with deep roots in the hospitality and tech sectors. Bertschi's founding vision was sparked by the observing the inefficiencies and high stress levels in professional kitchens, which were largely still operating on paper-based recipes and verbal instructions. He aimed to create a 'Standardized Leadership' system that could translate a founder's culinary vision into a digital format that any employee could execute. Starting in Lausanne, Switzerland, the company spent its first year in deep research and development, working closely with local restaurants to refine its mobile task-management interface. The initial challenge was ensuring the technology was robust enough to survive the harsh kitchen environment while remaining simple enough for non-technical staff to use during peak hours. Since then, it has evolved from a simple app into a comprehensive ecosystem of hardware and software.
Unlike many high-profile SaaS startups that rely on frequent venture capital rounds, smartTONi has pursued a path of sustainable growth. While specific details on private angel investments are kept confidential, the company is registered as a 'Société Anonyme' (SA) in Switzerland, indicating a professionalized corporate structure with significant private backing. Data from Tracxn suggests the company has largely operated as an 'unfunded' entity in the traditional VC sense, focusing instead on revenue-driven growth and strategic partnerships with industry players like partner kitchens and system gastronomy groups. This approach has allowed the company to maintain a strong focus on its long-term product roadmap—specifically the integration of robotics—without the pressure of short-term exit timelines. It is widely regarded as a 'hidden gem' of the Swiss startup ecosystem, focusing on deep tech integration in a traditionally low-tech industry.
smartTONi's offerings are categorized into several tightly integrated modules. The 'Recipe Book' serves as the foundation, where recipes are digitized with nutritional and cost data. The 'Purchasing' module manages procurement with an emphasis on eliminating overstocking through JIT (Just-In-Time) principles. The 'Kitchen' and 'Central Kitchen' modules are the flagship offerings, providing the real-time task orchestration that drives daily production. For larger operations, the 'Warehouse' module provides advanced logistics and stock movement tracking. One of the most distinctive offerings is the 'Sensor Solutions' suite, which includes the smartTHEke—a hardware-enabled workstation that uses AI and light sensors for portioning. The company also offers 'Data Analysis Programs' as separate subscriptions (80-150 CHF), providing managers with cloud-based tools to optimize their entire production chain through data-driven insights.
While smartTONi's primary footprint is in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), its growth strategy is remarkably 'regionally independent.' The company leverages a network of 'partner kitchens' to expand its reach, allowing brands to produce their food globally using smartTONi's standardized IT guidance. This model has allowed smartTONi to support international scaling for influencers and fitness brands without the need for the brand itself to own physical infrastructure in every country. The software is currently available in multiple languages, with a focus on European markets, but its cloud-native architecture allows it to be deployed in any geography. Recent expansion efforts have focused on the 'Ghost Kitchen' segment in major European cities, where standardized, high-speed production is critical for delivery-only businesses.
In the last 18 months, smartTONi has significantly advanced its hardware integration capabilities. The launch of 'smartTHEke' represented a major step forward, introducing AI-driven algorithms and light sensors that illuminate the correct ingredients for a chef during production. This feature was designed to reduce errors and training time in fast-casual environments. Additionally, the company has enhanced its 'Cobot Integration' protocols, allowing for more seamless communication between the task management software and robotic arms for repetitive mise-en-place tasks. On the software side, the 'Business Analytics' dashboard has been overhauled to provide real-time 'Actual vs. Theoretical' food cost analysis, helping operators catch inventory leaks and waste as they happen rather than at the end of the month.
The culture at smartTONi is defined by the intersection of culinary passion and engineering precision. The company often describes its process as 'Cooking your brand to greatness,' reflecting a philosophy that software should serve the art of food, not the other way around. The work environment is highly innovative, encouraging team members to experiment with hardware like robotics and IoT sensors. With its headquarters in Lausanne—a city known for both its hospitality schools and its technical university (EPFL)—the company draws from a diverse talent pool of chefs and software developers. The values emphasize transparency, efficiency, and a drive to solve real-world problems in the hospitality sector. Remote-friendly policies are in place for the tech team, though the collaborative nature of testing new kitchen hardware often brings the team together in their 'test kitchens' in Switzerland.
smartTONi has built a strong community of forward-thinking restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs. It engages its users through participation in major hospitality trade shows such as IGEHO in Switzerland and Internorga in Germany. The company also fosters a 'Partner Kitchen' ecosystem where experienced kitchen operators can offer their excess capacity to new food brands through the smartTONi platform. This B2B community allows for a shared knowledge base on production efficiency and recipe standardization. The company maintains an active presence on LinkedIn and YouTube, where it shares case studies of successful implementations and tutorials on how to leverage automation in the kitchen. They also provide 'Data Analysis Programs' that act as educational modules to help kitchen managers become more data-literate.
smartTONi
By smartTONi SA
