The Column Group
Overview
The website reports 55 companies started or backed and 18 exits. These are its reported historical portfolio totals, not the number of currently operating investments.[1]
Platform funds focus on early companies with multiple-program potential, typically making three to four investments annually; Opportunity funds provide follow-on capital. TCG Labs-Soleil builds single-asset companies, while TCGX invests in later-stage private and public businesses.[2]
Science Partners assess scientific direction, while iPartners discuss biology and technology that might support new companies. The one-year Swanson Fellowship offers practical experience and mentorship for aspiring biotechnology leaders.[3]
Listed investment examples include Aragon, Carmot and Peloton. The website excludes some companies that closed or were written off, so the displayed examples cannot establish the portfolio’s overall success rate.[4]
Contents16 sections
Key facts
2007Peter Svennilson Founds TCG
Peter Svennilson founded The Column Group. Tim Kutzkey joined that year and subsequently helped form and manage portfolio companies. The current website lists both as managing partners.[3]
August 2013Johnson & Johnson Acquires Aragon
Johnson & Johnson completed its Aragon acquisition, placing its androgen-receptor antagonist program, including ARN-509, under Janssen R&D. The transaction brought the hormonal-cancer research company into a major pharmaceutical organization.[5]
2014Second Fund
The March 2021 presentation listed a $322 million Fund II, vintage 2014.[6]
2016Third Fund
Fund III was listed at $535 million, vintage 2016. These are historical fund sizes, not current net asset values.[6]
2017–2018Ponoi Follow-On Funds
Ponoi I and II, vintages 2017 and 2018, held $200 million and $160 million respectively for follow-on investments.[6]
December 2019$725 Million Fourth Fund and Related Vehicles
TCG announced $725 million across Fund IV and related investment vehicles, bringing cumulative fundraising to $2.2 billion. It continued to focus on a concentrated group of drug-discovery platforms with multiple product opportunities.[7]
March 2020John Josey Joins
John Josey joined TCG as a venture partner. He had been Peloton’s president and CEO from 2013 until its 2019 acquisition by Merck, bringing company-operating and drug-development experience.[8]
April 2021TCG Crossover’s First Fund
TCG Crossover, formed in partnership with TCG, announced an $824 million inaugural fund led by Chen Yu. It targets pre-IPO and public drug developers, with most investments intended for businesses outside TCG’s existing portfolio.[9]
TCGX operates independently of The Column Group.[2]
June 2022Two Funds Raise $1.23 Billion
TCG V and TCG Opportunity III each raised $615 million, respectively targeting early companies and later development within the existing portfolio. TCG then reported $3.5 billion raised and 41 companies started or backed, with follow-on capital supporting clinical progress and increased ownership.[10]
January 2024Carmot Acquisition Completed
Roche completed its acquisition of Carmot’s outstanding shares and options for $2.7 billion, with up to $400 million in conditional milestone payments. It obtained Carmot’s metabolic-disease pipeline and exclusive access to its Chemotype Evolution platform in metabolism.[11]
February 2024TCG Labs-Soleil Launches
TCG Labs-Soleil announced an inaugural fund exceeding $400 million, combining dedicated capital with a continuing Soleil R&D team. Individual companies focus on single biologic assets through clinical proof of concept. Jin-Long Chen became Soleil’s CEO and a TCG Labs managing partner.[12]
October 2025Nilo Launch and Financing
Nilo launched publicly with a $101 million Series A led by TCG, DCVCDCVCDCVC (Data Collective) is an American deep tech venture capital firm founded in 2010 by Matt Ocko and Zachary Bogue, with offices in Palo Alto and San Francisco, California. It invests in companies that use computing and AI to solve real-world problems in fields such as energy, climate, biomedicine, defense, space, and industry; as of October 2026 it had more than $4 billion in assets under management across 13 funds.Open the full entry Bio and Lux CapitalLux CapitalLux Capital is a U.S. venture capital firm founded in 2000 by Peter Hébert, Josh Wolfe and Robert Paull, with offices in New York and Silicon Valley. Focused on emerging science and technology, the firm backs companies in fields including life sciences, artificial intelligence, robotics, manufacturing, aerospace and defense through fund investments and by helping to found companies.Open the full entry. TCG helped create the company. Funding supported New York laboratories, staffing and preclinical programs exploring neural-circuit approaches to immune regulation.[13]
October 2026Anthropic Partnership
TCG said its scientists were working with AnthropicAnthropicAnthropic is an artificial intelligence research and product company founded in 2021 that develops the Claude models, assistant, and tools such as Claude Code, and operates as a public benefit corporation. Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei are its co-founders, and its research covers model safety, interpretability, and steerability.Open the full entry engineers and Claude on tools addressing drug-discovery and development bottlenecks. The partners aim for a model others could adopt; this statement itself did not establish drug efficacy or industry-wide productivity gains.[14]
October 28, 2026Three Labs Soleil Programs Reach Early Trials
Labs Soleil reported 19 portfolio companies. Candidates from Duboce, Juri and Arguello had entered first-in-human Phase 1 studies addressing solid tumors, prostate cancer and anticoagulation. Clement’s respiratory-disease candidate was still advancing toward the clinic.[15]
Sources
- The Column Group | TCG (opens in a new window)
- TCG Ecosystem: Cultivating New Frontiers of Science (opens in a new window)
- Meet TCG (opens in a new window)
- TCG Portfolio (opens in a new window)
- Johnson & Johnson Completes Acquisition of Aragon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (opens in a new window)
- The Column Group — March 2021 Presentation (opens in a new window)
- The Column Group Raises a $725 Million Fourth Fund (opens in a new window)
- Dr. John Josey joins The Column Group as Venture Partner (opens in a new window)
- TCG Crossover (“TCG X”) Raises Inaugural $824 Million Fund (opens in a new window)
- The Column Group Raises $1.23 Billion in Two New Funds (opens in a new window)
- Carmot Therapeutics Announces Completion of Acquisition by Roche (opens in a new window)
- TCG Labs-Soleil Raises Inaugural Fund of Over $400 Million (opens in a new window)
- Nilo Therapeutics launches with $101 million Series A financing to advance a new class of medicines targeting neural circuits in immune disease and appoints Kim Seth as Chief Executive Officer (opens in a new window)
- Early progress on accelerating drug development with Claude — TCG statement (opens in a new window)
- TCG Labs Soleil Highlights Portfolio Momentum with Three Programs Entering First-in-Human Clinical Trials Across Oncology and Cardiovascular Disease (opens in a new window)