SNAK Venture Partners Secures $50M Debut Fund to Invest in Vertical B2B Marketplaces

SNAK Venture Partners announced Wednesday the successful closure of its oversubscribed $50 million inaugural fund, with anchor investment from Pritzker Group, the investment firm founded by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and his brother Tony.

The fund's co-founders, Sonia Nagar and Adam Koopersmith, previously worked at Pritzker Group where they led strategic investments in companies including automotive marketplace Backlot Cars and TicketsNow, which was subsequently acquired by Ticketmaster. The duo launched their independent venture capital firm earlier this year with a focused thesis on backing digital marketplace platforms.

"The timing aligned perfectly, and we had strong institutional support to pursue this opportunity," Nagar stated.

Investment Thesis and Market Opportunity

SNAK's investment strategy centers on the significant digitization opportunity remaining in traditionally analog sectors such as supply chain management and construction. The firm believes current market conditions are optimal as legacy industries demonstrate increased willingness to adopt emerging technologies, driven by advances in fintech infrastructure.

Nagar highlighted that examining the most successful venture outcomes of the past decade—citing companies like Uber, Instacart, and Airbnb—reveals that marketplace models represent five of the top ten venture capital exits. These companies raised substantial capital, completed successful IPOs, and generated significant returns for investors.

"Historically, the largest wins have been in consumer-facing marketplaces, which typically scale faster than enterprise solutions," Nagar explained. "We see substantial white space opportunity to focus specifically on B2B marketplace platforms in categories that remain largely undigitized."

Portfolio and Deployment Strategy

The firm has already deployed capital into six portfolio companies, including:

• BigRentals - equipment rental marketplace
• Repackify - packaging logistics platform

SNAK plans to write seed-stage checks ranging from $1 million to $2 million into approximately 20 companies over the fund's lifecycle. The firm expects to fully deploy the capital within the next 3 to 4 years.

Fund Composition and Team Background

Despite challenging fundraising conditions for emerging fund managers, with capital increasingly concentrated among established firms, Nagar and Koopersmith leveraged their extensive operational and investment experience to attract limited partners.

Nagar's background includes launching Amazon's apparel division in 2009 and serving as Head of Mobile at RetailMeNot. Koopersmith brings 20 years of investment experience from Pritzker Group and maintains board positions across multiple marketplace companies.

The LP base includes:

• Pritzker Group (anchor investor)
• State of Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund
• Executives from marketplace companies including Favor Delivery and RetailMeNot

Nagar acknowledged that Pritzker's anchor commitment was instrumental in closing the fund, particularly given the challenging capital formation environment.

Geographic Strategy

SNAK maintains a location-agnostic investment approach, recognizing that emerging marketplace opportunities exist beyond traditional venture hubs like Silicon Valley and New York City.

"We're identifying overlooked founders in markets where other funds may not be actively sourcing," Nagar noted.

The firm operates from Chicago, a location some LPs initially questioned. "While some perceive our geography as a disadvantage, we view it as a strategic advantage—we can efficiently access founders across all major markets," Nagar concluded.