SNAK Venture Partners closes $50M debut fund for B2B marketplaces

SNAK Venture Partners announced Wednesday the close of its oversubscribed $50 million debut fund. The fund is anchored by the investment firm Pritzker Group. Founders Sonia Nagar and Adam Koopersmith, who previously worked at Pritzker Group, launched the firm earlier this year to back digital marketplaces. Nagar noted that the timing felt right to spin out and that they had strong support from their former firm to do so, allowing them to transition into managing their own fund. “It felt like the timing was right and there was support within the firm to go do this,” Nagar said.

The firm is targeting B2B marketplaces in industries that have yet to digitize, such as supply chain and construction. SNAK Venture Partners has already deployed capital from the fund, investing in six companies so far. These early investments include Big Rentals, which focuses on equipment rental, and Repackify, a packaging logistics company, demonstrating the firm’s focus on industrial sectors.

To execute its investment strategy, the firm is operating under the following parameters:

• Target sectors: B2B marketplaces in categories that have not yet digitized.
• Check size: Seed checks—which are early-stage venture capital investments—ranging from $1 million to $2 million.
• Deployment timeline: The firm hopes to deploy the entire fund within the next 3 to 4 years.
• Portfolio size: The firm hopes to write seed checks into at least 20 companies.

Despite the fundraising environment last year, the founders leveraged their backgrounds to secure commitments from LPs (Limited Partners). Nagar previously helped launch Amazon apparel in 2009, while Koopersmith spent years at Pritzker Group. Other LPs in the debut fund include the State of Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, alongside executives from other marketplace companies who are backing the firm’s strategy.

SNAK Venture Partners is based in Chicago, a location that some LPs questioned during the fundraising process. However, the firm is adopting a location-agnostic approach to sourcing deals, looking beyond traditional hubs like Silicon Valley and New York City to find investment opportunities. “We’re finding these overlooked founders in places where maybe other funds aren’t looking,” said founder Sonia Nagar. She added that while some perceive the Chicago headquarters as a disadvantage, the firm views it as an advantage for their operations.

Why it matters

The firm is betting that the next wave of venture-scale outcomes will come from digitizing B2B marketplaces rather than consumer apps, specifically by sourcing deals outside of traditional hubs like Silicon Valley and New York City.