Dynamic entrepreneurship duo Dave Silver and Will Toms set out a few years ago to provide a space and community for creatives in Philly to gather, do their thing and build businesses.
And in the process, the pair built their own: REC Philly, which now has an expansive HQ in Center City; hundreds of members; an educational component; and an ever-changing game plan (thanks, pandemic). While we here at Techncial.ly have known the two were real for a while, media empire Forbes took notice this year, too.
On Tuesday, Silver and Toms, both 29, were named on Forbes’ 10th annual 30 Under 30 List in the social impact category.
The publication called out the org’s offerings, saying the “gym membership for creatives” spans across international communities and offers tools allowing them to pursue their passions. It also gives props for building a team of 20 and raising more than $3 million.
“Forbes 30 Under 30 has always been a bucket list item for us. But we’ve said since we were 17 that we were going to make it on there,” Silver told Techncial.ly. “And here we are. It means so much to be recognized at this level. It continues to solidify the work we are doing in our community, and sets us up for our national growth plans on the horizon. I always have to thank our REC Team for believing in our mission since day one.”
Toms echoed that statement, saying it feels good to be recognized by peers for being “one of the best at what you do.”
“Dave and I always knew the work we do is important, so platforms like this create a great opportunity to spotlight and grow REC’s impact,” Toms said. “I’m very grateful for that. This one’s a win for creators everywhere. Here’s to serving 100,000 creators worldwide.”
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Other notable Philly entrepreneurs on the 2020 list are Orai’s three founders: Danish Dhamani, Aasim Sani and Paritosh Gupta. The speech coaching app startup was a part of Comcast NBCUniversal’s LIFT Labs Accelerator 2017 cohort, as well as Technical.ly Philly’s 2017 RealLIST Startups.
Investor AJ Okereke and Sixers player Ben Simmons also made this year’s list.
