Spencer Trask & Co.

Spencer Trask & Co. is an American company founded in 1881 by Spencer Trask and George Foster Peabody as an investment firm.^[1][2] The company is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, and funds early-stage ventures in technology, healthcare, and science.^[3]

Spencer Trask & Co.

Industry	Financial services
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Key people	Kevin Kimberlin (Chairman)
Services	Building advanced technology companies
Website	spencertraskco.com

History

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][4]

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the firm played a key role in financing technological advancements.^[5] Notably, it supported Thomas Edison in the development of electric power systems.^[6][7] Trask was president of the New York Edison Company, the world's first electric power company, for nearly 15 years.^[1] The company became known as Consolidated Edison (ConEd).^[8] Spencer Trask was one of the first companies to be supplied with electric lamps.^[9]

Spencer Trask & Co. also provided financing for Guglielmo Marconi, whose work in radio technology laid the groundwork for today's wireless communications.^[5]

In the summer of 1896, Spencer Trask invested in Adolph S. Ochs's acquisition of the financially struggling New York Times. Trask remained a minority stockholder as Ochs rejuvenated the newspaper and placed it on a profitable basis.^[9]

Spencer Trask & Co. was an early investor in Ciena Corporation, which made significant advancements in fiber optic communications technology. Ciena first commercialized dense wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology.^[10] This became a core component of modern fiber-optic communications and telecommunications infrastructure.^[11]

The firm provided the first funding to Myriad Genetics, a genomics diagnostics company known for sequencing the breast cancer gene, BRCA1.^[12] This work contributed to advances in genomic medicine.

In addition, Spencer Trask & Co. invested in Health Dialog^[13][14] to commercialize partner Jack Wennberg's work in evidence-based medicine and informed patient-based decision-making.^[15] Health Dialog's support and research provided the analytical foundation for the Affordable Care Act (ACA).^[16]

In August 2024, Spencer Trask launched Signal12 Inc. (Signal12), a clinical-stage ocular health company.^[17]

Spencer Trask & Co. has historically backed companies in the field of genomics, healthcare, mobile technology and global communications.^[18]