American Power Conversion, incorporated in March 1981, was founded by three electronic power engineers from the Massachusetts institute of Technology. At the time, the research and development efforts of these three men were focused in the solar electricity. Over the next few years, government funding and incentives in the solar arena began to dry up. In response, APC shifted its focus to power protection, introducing its first UPS in 1984, the 750. The need for capital to support this growing business was satisfied in July 1988 when APC became a publicly traded company. The stock, trading under the symbol APCC, was priced at $.125 per share when adjusted for stock splits.
During this time, it was well-known that computer systems required back-up power solutions. It was quite common for a mainframe computer to have a large uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and generator installed in tandem. APC came at the market from a different perspective. Industry trends involving the personal computer made APC management realized that smaller UPS were necessary for the market that included personal computers.