SNAK Venture Partners raises $50M fund to restore direct markets

SNAK Venture Partners announced Wednesday the closing of its first $50 million fund, backed by investment firm Pritzker Group (founded by Illinois governor JB Pritzker and his brother, Tony).

SNAK founders Sonia Nagar and Adam Koopersmith worked at the company and helped lead investments in companies such as marketplace Backlot Cars and TicketsNow (a spinoff from Ticketmaster). The two decided to go out on their own and, earlier this year, launched their own company to restore digital markets.

“It felt like the timing was right and there was support in the company to do this,” Nagar said.

The idea is that there is still much to be done in digitalization, such as in supply chain and construction, and this is the time to strike because even participating industries are more free to accept new technologies such as the development of fintech architecture.

“If you look at the biggest successful business in the last decade,” he said, pointing to the likes of Uber, Instacart, and Airbnb, “those are five of the top 10 results in business.” As in those companies that raised billions from investors, went on to IPO, and returned millions to them.

“Most of those wins were for consumers, which tend to move faster than big businesses,” Nagar continued. “We think there’s a ton of white space to double down and focus on B2B markets.” We are looking specifically at sections that have not yet been digitized.

The company has already invested in six companies, including Big Rentals and Repackify, which specialize in equipment rental and packaging respectively. Nagar said the company hopes to write seed checks to at least 20 companies, for $1 million to $2 million a pop. He said they hope to invest the entire fund in the next three to four years.

While many new funds struggle to raise capital (and funds remain highly concentrated), Nagar said he and Koopersmith have been able to lean on their backgrounds when soliciting LPs.

Nagar previously helped launch Amazon apparel in 2009, and was head of mobile at RetailMeNot. Koopersmith, on the other hand, spent 20 years at the Pritzker Group and serves on the board of various market companies. At the same time, Nagar said that without Pritzker’s support, it would have been very difficult to grow the fund, especially in the area of ​​last year.

Other LPs in their fund include the State of Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund and managers from other marketplace companies, such as Favor Delivery and RetailMeNot.

Nagar said the company is also agnostic, recognizing that hidden markets may not be found only in Silicon Valley and New York City. “We find these overlooked founders in places where maybe other funds don’t look,” he said.

SNAK, on ​​the other hand, is based in Chicago, which other LPs have asked about. “People see that as a disadvantage; we see it as an advantage,” he continued. “We can reach everyone very quickly.”