Pratt and Whitney were engineers for Colt until 1860

https://www.prattwhitney.com/en/our-company/our-story

The Pratt & Whitney Company was founded in 1860 by Francis A. Pratt and Amos Whitney, with headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut. The company manufactured machine tools, tools for the makers of sewing machines, and gun-making machinery for use by the Union Army during the American Civil War.

In 1925, Frederick Rentschler approached Pratt & Whitney for funding and a location to build his new aircraft engine. Pratt & Whitney loaned him $250,000, the use of the Pratt & Whitney name, and space in their building. This was the beginning of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company, which evolved into today's widely known aircraft engine manufacturer.

Rentschler, an Ohio native and former executive at Wright Aeronautical, was determined to start an aviation-related business of his own

Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool was going through a period of self-revision at the time to prepare itself for the post-World War I era, discontinuing old product lines and incubating new ones.

World War I had been profitable to P&WMT, but the peace brought a predictable glut to the machine tool market, as contracts with governments were canceled and the market in used, recently built tools competed against new ones. P&WMT's future growth would depend on innovation. Having idle factory space and capital available at this historical moment, to be invested wherever good return seemed available,

P&WMT saw the post-war aviation industry as one with some of the greatest growth and development potential available anywhere for the next few decades. 

This was the beginning of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company, their first engine, the 425 horsepower R-1340 Wasp, was completed on Christmas Eve 1925. On its third test run it easily passed the U.S. Navy qualification test and by October 1926, the U.S. Navy had ordered 200. The Wasp exhibited performance and reliability that revolutionized American aviation

In 1929, Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and merged Pratt & Whitney Aircraft with Boeing and other companies to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC). His agreement allowed him to carry the Pratt & Whitney name with him to his new corporation. 

Pratt & Whitney's large commercial engines power more than 25 percent of the world’s passenger aircraft fleet. Pratt & Whitney's Military Engines power 27 air forces around the globe, with nearly 11,000 military engines in service with 23 customers in 22 nations. 

Between 1967 and 1971, Pratt & Whitney turbine engines were used in American Championship Car Racing and Formula One. The STP-Paxton Turbocar dominated the 1967 Indianapolis 500 until a transmission bearing failed four laps from the finish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_%26_Whitney