SPEAKERS

July 27, 2026

Dara Shareef brings a rare combination of operating depth and transaction expertise to every engagement. Over a career spanning the C-suite, boardroom, venture capital, and academia, he has built, scaled, and advised businesses across a broad range of industries.

Today, as a Board Director at Benchmark International and an active member of the firm’s development team, he focuses on identifying and evaluating new strategic investment opportunities, drawing on a practitioner’s instinct for what drives enterprise value. He also hosts Closing Remarks, a podcast exploring the deal-making process through the eyes of those who have lived it.

Dara’s operating background includes tenures as CEO, CFO, and COO across multiple organizations, giving him a ground-level
understanding of the challenges founders and sellers face at every developmental stage of a business. That perspective shapes the way he approaches M&A advisory, with the credibility of someone who has logged time on both sides of the table.