Announcing SNAK Fund I
Today, Techcrunch announced we officially closed over $50M for SNAK Venture Partners Fund I, oversubscribing our original $40M target. We are grateful to our limited partners, which include Pritzker Group, the State of Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, and relevant to our thesis— experienced marketplace founders and executives from G2, Backlot Cars, Faire, SMS Assist, RetailMeNot, Wayfair, and Favor Delivery, many of whom serve as active resources to our founders.
For the last few years, “marketplaces” have been written off as too hard, too capital-intensive, or already picked over. For most consumer marketplaces, that may be true. But in legacy industries—construction, logistics, industrial supply, automotive, manufacturing—the opportunity is still wide open. These markets are massive, fragmented, and riddled with inefficiencies that technology hasn’t fixed yet. Our fund reinforces a belief we’ve held for a long time: marketplaces aren’t played out. The opportunity lies in overlooked parts of the real economy that are still offline. The next generation of category-defining marketplaces won’t look like the last. More on our thesis here.
How we work with founders
We’ve spent our careers inside marketplaces—building them, scaling them, investing in them and living through the messy middle. Before SNAK, we invested together for nearly a decade at Pritzker Group, backing companies like Backlot Cars, G2, and TicketsNow. Before that, we operated: launching new categories at Amazon, founding and selling companies, and leading teams post-acquisition and post-IPO.
That operator context matters. We’ve seen firsthand that marketplaces don’t fail because the model is broken—they fail because execution is unforgiving. Liquidity is fragile. Supply and demand are equally hard. And “network effects” don’t show up on a schedule.
These lessons shape how we invest and how we partner with founders.
What we’re building at SNAK
SNAK exists to lead seed rounds for marketplace founders looking for a true early partner. Beyond capital, we bring marketplace-specific operating experience, access to a focused group of experts, and a founder community built around sharing what actually works at the seed stage.
We’ve already started deploying Fund I and partnering with founders who are tackling equipment rental, logistics, automotive, and industrial supply—markets that don’t always make headlines but quietly power the economy.
What a “SNAK deal” looks like
Large, underserved industry where work still happens over phone calls, texts, PDFs, and spreadsheets (there is an opportunity for first-mover advantages)
Highly fragmented markets (here is how we measure this)
Scrappy founders with deep domain expertise
Post-launch startups with transactions and net revenue so we can use the SNAK Machine to analyze marketplace health
We’re open for business
With Fund I closed, we’re actively meeting seed-stage marketplace founders looking for a lead investor—especially those building in messy, real-world industries where execution matters more than narrative. If you’re early, thoughtful, and building in a space that still uses fax machines, we’d love to meet you. Full press release below.
SNAK Venture Partners Closes Oversubscribed $50M Debut Fund to Back Marketplaces Digitizing Legacy Industries
Former Pritzker Group investors Sonia Nagar and Adam Koopersmith spin out with track record including unicorn G2, Backlot Cars (acquired by KAR), TicketsNow (acquired by Ticketmaster), and Coinbase
Chicago, IL – February 4, 2026 – SNAK Venture Partners today announced the close of its oversubscribed $50 million debut fund focused on investing in early-stage marketplaces bringing offline, highly fragmented industries online. The fund is anchored by Pritzker Group, where SNAK co-founders Sonia Nagar and Adam Koopersmith spent nearly a decade together building a portfolio that includes Backlot Cars (acquired by KAR), TicketsNow (acquired by Ticketmaster), Coinbase (IPO), and unicorn G2. With Fund I, the pair is building on that experience to back founders applying proven marketplace models to some of the economy’s largest and least digitized sectors.
“At Pritzker Group, we built our reputation investing in category-defining marketplaces across verticals—from used cars to software reviews to crypto exchanges,” said Koopersmith. “We’ve seen how, when executed well, these businesses reshape entire industries and generate outsized returns.” While most consumer categories are now online, massive B2B sectors like construction, manufacturing, and supply chain remain early in their digital transformation. Unlike pure SaaS models, successful marketplaces simultaneously build supply and demand, creating defensible network effects and high switching costs. SNAK believes these dynamics make marketplaces uniquely positioned to unlock durable value and long-term category leadership in legacy industries.
Launched earlier this year, SNAK has already made six investments from Fund I, examples include—BigRentals, Ruck, Repackify, and APFusion—each focused on digitizing legacy industries such as equipment rental, automotive, logistics, and industrial supply.
Nagar helped launch Amazon’s apparel business in 2009 and later served as Head of Mobile at RetailMeNot after the company acquired her mobile shopping startup. “Founders choose us because we’ve lived every stage of the marketplace journey,” said Nagar. “We’ve founded companies, led teams post-IPO, and operated at Amazon scale—we know what it takes to build marketplaces that win.”
The fund is anchored by Pritzker Group. “Sonia and Adam have been exceptional investors for us, and we’re proud to be their anchor and long-term partner as they build on their success,” said Tony Pritzker, co-founder of Pritzker Group. “Their focus and discipline reflect the same principles that have guided our family’s more than 100 years of building enduring businesses.”
Additional limited partners include the State of Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, and founders and senior executives from category-leading marketplaces such as RetailMeNot, Wayfair, G2, Backlot Cars, SMS Assist, Faire, and Favor Delivery.
About SNAK Venture Partners
SNAK Venture Partners leads seed-stage investments in category-defining digital marketplaces. The firm focuses on platforms digitizing legacy industries characterized by fragmentation, offline workflows, and opportunities for first-mover advantage. For more information visit www.snak.vc or email contact@snak.vc