Michal Menšík’s V-Sharp buys 25% of Czech smart fridge firm Eat Smart

The Czech investment group V-Sharp, led by entrepreneur Michal Menšík, will acquire a 25 percent stake in Innovation Lab, the company that runs the Eat Smart project. The project came about through a collaboration between chef Filip Sailer and Hopi Holding, and offers companies fresh food available around the clock through smart fridges.

For V-Sharp, the deal is an example of a new investment course. The group, founded by Menšík in 2015, wants to focus more on private equity, that is, buying into established companies where it sees potential for growth and rising value. The priority is businesses with a proven model, a stable customer base and a product that can keep growing.

Eat Smart entered the market in 2024 as an alternative to ordinary corporate canteens. The solution needs neither its own kitchen nor permanent staff: it is built on smart fridges with RFID technology, where customers choose fresh dishes and pay digitally. Today the project’s network has more than a hundred points across Czechia: the fridges stand in office buildings, factories and medical facilities, and several dozen more are waiting to be installed. The food is prepared at the Chef Tech Center gastronomy hub in Jažlovice near Prague.

The project now has its two original founders and a new investor. Hopi Holding is responsible for food production and logistics, while V-Sharp brings experience in managing technology companies and scaling them. Beyond capital, the group wants to help companies with business development, strategic management, efficiency improvements and expansion abroad. Among the most prominent companies linked to V-Sharp is the technology and logistics company Dodo.

Hopi Holding is a Czech family group operating across Europe in logistics, food production and agriculture. Eat Smart co-founder Filip Sailer wants to use the project to make quality food available to people in a range of workplaces, including when ordinary restaurants and canteens are closed.