Entrepreneurship has never been a solitary pursuit for Rachel Koretsky.
As the cofounder of DC Startup and Tech Week, Koretsky welcomed thousands of entrepreneurs to the capital region in October for the 10th annual celebration of innovation. Yet, the driving force behind this large-scale event remains the same as it was when she started her first small business in a college classroom: ensuring that innovators have the community support they need to get their businesses off the ground.
Koretsky’s journey began in 2014 at the Kogod School of Business, where she launched Upace. What began as an app to improve efficiency for students waiting for a treadmill at the Jacobs Fitness Center has evolved into a technology platform for community recreation centers across the country.
Over the last decade, more than 548,000 Upace users have made 19.3 million reservations at YMCAs and other recreation centers, saving upwards of 561,000 administrative hours. To survive the “frightening early days” and reach that scale, however, Koretsky relied on “game-changing support” from the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship.
The incubator provided physical space, she says, and a psychological safety net where peers could help each other navigate the highs and lows of the industry.
The loss of that built-in network after graduation spurred Koretsky to look outward. Realizing she missed the community of mentorship and growth she had at AU, she helped launch DC Startup Week in 2016 (Tech was added eight years later).
The inaugural event drew an impressive 2,000 attendees, and since then, the gathering has more than tripled. October’s conference brought together 7,000 attendees from around the world for five days of innovation. Featuring more than 300 speakers, 150 events, and 10 content tracks, the programming served the entire ecosystem—from curious first-time entrepreneurs to scaling CEOs and seasoned investors.
According to Koretsky, the DC area—home to nearly 1,800 startups as of 2025, a 17.5 percent increase from the previous year—offers a rare environment for this kind of gathering. She describes the local ecosystem as distinct from other hypercompetitive tech hubs, defined instead by a “pay it forward” culture.
“There’s something special about the founders and startups here,” she says. “It’s not about competition; it’s about wanting to see each other succeed.”
In Koretsky’s Washington, it turns out the most valuable capital isn’t political—it’s communal.