# The Column Group

The Column Group is a Private Equity based in San Francisco, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 2007
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** www.thecolumngroup.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-column-group

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 161912
- **SEC file number:** 802-76006
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** Yes
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/161912

## About

The Column Group (TCG) is a venture ecosystem dedicated to fueling scientific innovation in the life sciences industry. It uses an edge-to-edge investment model within an ecosystem of funds focused primarily on company formation, supporting technology platforms, single assets, and later-stage programs from inception through exit. Across its two-decade history, TCG has started and invested in 55 companies and generated $4.0 billion in returns.

## Sectors

- Biotech
- Healthcare Services

## People

- David Goeddel — Managing Partner
- Peter Svennilson — Founder and Managing Partner

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at The Column Group?

David Goeddel and Peter Svennilson serve as managing partners and make investment decisions. Goeddel was the first scientist hired at Genentech and co-founded Tularik, while Svennilson brought European biotech financing relationships from prior ventures. The partnership operates without a separate investment committee structure visible to outsiders.

### How does The Column Group source proprietary deal flow?

The firm originates most opportunities through its partners' academic relationships, particularly with university labs in the San Francisco Bay Area and select European institutions. It also forms companies internally by recruiting scientific founders around specific biological mechanisms, then placing its own operators as interim executives. This is distinct from firms that compete for pre-packaged deals through banker-led processes.

### Does The Column Group participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?

The firm makes exclusively direct equity investments, primarily leading or co-leading early-stage rounds for its portfolio companies. It does not operate as a fund-of-funds and has no publicly disclosed allocation to other venture managers. Its model relies on concentrated position-building in company formation, not diversification across third-party funds.

### Which sectors does The Column Group avoid?

The firm concentrates almost exclusively on biotechnology, particularly platform drug discovery companies. It has no disclosed investments in medical devices, healthcare IT, or diagnostics, and does not pursue the health-tech or digital-health sectors. Its mandate excludes any non-life-science sector entirely.

### How does the firm's operating model differ from a typical biotech venture fund?

The Column Group embeds its partners as founding CEOs, board chairs, and scientific founders of portfolio companies, going well beyond board observation rights. David Goeddel's role at Genentech as the first bench scientist informs a culture where investment partners participate in early-stage drug discovery decisions directly. This operational entanglement at formation is atypical, even among specialist biotech investors.

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- [The Clark Group](https://altss.com/profile/the-clark-group)
- [The Community Fund](https://altss.com/profile/the-community-fund)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:08:18.003Z

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