Hustler Words – A significant new player has emerged in the venture capital landscape, as SNAK Venture Partners officially announced the successful close of its inaugural $50 million fund. This oversubscribed debut, spearheaded by the prominent Pritzker Group—an investment firm co-founded by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and his brother Tony—is poised to inject substantial capital into the burgeoning sector of vertical digital marketplaces.
The firm’s co-founders, Sonia Nagar and Adam Koopersmith, bring a wealth of experience from their tenure at Pritzker Group, where they were instrumental in guiding investments into notable marketplace ventures such as the automotive platform Backlot Cars and TicketsNow, which later saw a successful exit to Ticketmaster. Their decision to establish SNAK Venture Partners earlier this year stems from a shared conviction that the time is ripe to independently champion the next wave of digital marketplace innovation.
"The timing felt unequivocally right, and we had strong internal encouragement from our previous firm to pursue this," Nagar commented, articulating the strategic pivot. The core philosophy driving SNAK is the belief in vast untapped potential for digitization across various industries, particularly in complex sectors like supply chain management and construction. The current climate, marked by advancements in fintech architecture, has made even traditionally resistant industries more receptive to adopting new technological solutions.
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Nagar drew parallels to the last decade’s venture capital triumphs, citing giants like Uber, Instacart, and Airbnb as prime examples. "These represent five of the top ten venture outcomes," she noted, referring to companies that attracted billions in investment, achieved successful IPOs, and delivered substantial returns to their backers. While many of these monumental successes originated in the faster-paced consumer market, Nagar sees a different opportunity. "We perceive an immense ‘white space’ to intensify our focus on B2B marketplaces," she elaborated, specifically targeting categories that have yet to fully embrace digital transformation.
SNAK Venture Partners has already begun deploying capital, with investments in six companies to date. These include BigRentals, a platform specializing in equipment rental, and Repackify, which focuses on packaging logistics. The firm plans to issue seed-stage checks ranging from $1 million to $2 million, with an ambitious goal of backing at least 20 companies. Nagar anticipates the entire fund will be deployed within the next three to four years.
Amidst a challenging fundraising environment where many new funds struggle and capital remains concentrated at the top, Nagar and Koopersmith leveraged their extensive professional backgrounds to attract limited partners (LPs). Nagar’s impressive resume includes her role in launching Amazon apparel in 2009 and serving as head of mobile at RetailMeNot. Koopersmith, meanwhile, boasts two decades at Pritzker Group and holds board positions at several marketplace companies. Nagar acknowledged the critical support from the Pritzker Group, stating that raising the fund would have been "quite hard," especially in the previous year’s market conditions, without their backing.
Beyond the Pritzker Group, other significant LPs include the State of Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, alongside executives from successful marketplace companies like Favor Delivery and RetailMeNot.
The firm also distinguishes itself through a location-agnostic investment strategy, recognizing that groundbreaking marketplace innovations are not exclusively confined to Silicon Valley or New York City. "We are actively seeking out these overlooked founders in regions where other funds might not be looking," Nagar explained. SNAK itself is headquartered in Chicago, a choice Nagar views as a distinct advantage despite some LPs initially questioning it. "People perceive that as a disadvantage; we view it as an advantage," she asserted, emphasizing their ability to "get to everybody very fast."
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