Headquarters | , United States |
---|---|
Key people | Kevin Kimberlin (Chairman) |
Services | Development of advanced technology companies |
Website | spencertraskco |
Spencer Trask & Co. was founded by Spencer Trask and George Foster Peabody as an investment firm. [1] [2] The company is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, and funds ventures in genomics, healthcare, mobile technology and communications. [3] [4]
Spencer Trask & Co. was established in 1881 by Spencer Trask, evolving from his earlier ventures, including Trask & Stone, a brokerage house founded in 1868. [1] [5]
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the firm played a key role in financing [6] Thomas Edison in the development of the light bulb and the electric power systems. [7] [8] Trask was president of the New York Edison Company, the world's first electric power company, for nearly 15 years, [1] now known as Consolidated Edison (ConEd). [9] Spencer Trask was one of the first companies to be supplied with electric lamps. [10]
Spencer Trask & Co. also provided financing Guglielmo Marconi and Marconi Wireless, whose work in radio technology laid the groundwork for today's wireless communications. [6]
Mr. Spencer Trask purchased 100% of The New York Times and hired Adolph S. Ochs as publisher. Trask remained the major stockholder as Ochs rejuvenated the newspaper and made it profitable. [10]
Spencer Trask & Co. was the first investor in Ciena Corporation, which made significant advancements in fiber optic communications technology. Ciena first commercialized dense wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology. [11] This became a core component of modern fiber-optic communications, telecommunications infrastructure and the Internet. [12]
The firm provided the first funding to Myriad Genetics, a genomics diagnostics company known for sequencing the breast cancer gene, BRCA1. [13] This work contributed to advances in genomic medicine.
In addition, Spencer Trask & Co. invested in Health Dialog [14] [15] to commercialize partner Jack Wennberg's work in evidence-based medicine and informed patient-based decision-making. [16] Health Dialog's support and research provided the analytical foundation for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). [17]
In August 2024, Spencer Trask launched Signal12 Inc. (Signal12), a clinical-stage ocular health company. [18]