Here’s who will be speaking at DC Startup Week 2023

It’s that time again, folks.

As fall (or at least, fall-lite) comes around, so does the annual DC Startup Week (DCSW) event. The weeklong event, taking place Oct. 16-20, brings together founders from all across the area for talks, networking, a pitch competition and more — basically, everything you need to level up your startup, or at least meet some others’ leaders to network with.

The full schedule is still being kept under wraps, but DC Startup Week expects to bring in 6,000 attendees across more than 150 constituent events. The five-day convening has 10 tracks for founders to choose from, with 250 speakers (which, yes, include the appearance of some Technical.ly team members). In the meantime, you can check out some of the most prominent folks who you can find at the week’s events — people who just might give you the piece of advice or connection you’ve been missing.

Rachel Koretsky, the cofounder of DCSW, said that as the team prepares for the eighth annual event, the community created throughout the years has grown to 15,000 founders and partners. This year, she hopes that number will continue going up.

“Not only will thousands of entrepreneurs have access to expert and founder-led programming all week, but this year we are expanding our emerging tech content, networking activations, adding a brand new DMV startup showcase and resources expo, and planning for an expansion with our year-round programming after the event,” Koretsky told Technical.ly in an email.

Below, check out some of the keynotes who will be leading talks throughout the week.

• Seth Goldman, cofounder, Eat the Change: Goldman is a huge face in the DC startup world as the founder of Honest Tea. He’s also on the board of the Beyond Meat company and cofounded Bethesda Green and PLNT Burger. He’ll be speaking about industry disruption and building innovative brands.
• Mariam Nusrat, founder and CEO, Breshna.io: The George Washington University alum built a no-code platform for Web3 games. She also founded the not-for-profit arm of GRID and spent over a decade at the World Bank Group.
• Brett Schulman, cofounder and CEO, Cava Group: Fresh off the Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant’s IPO, Schulman will be speaking about his entire founding journey and what it takes to build a company that will one day go public.

Register here