2026 Hall of Fame Inductees
Presented By: Unison Risk Advisors/RCM&D
Mark Eklund
Founder & CEO
24Aries
Mark Eklund is Founder and CEO of 24Aries, a consulting firm providing fractional executive leadership, sales acceleration and funding services to companies in IoT, HealthTech, green energy, wireless technology and physical/digital security.
With more than 30 years of experience in sales, business development and technology innovation, Eklund has founded, built and sold several companies while developing wireless and security solutions for asset tracking, personnel monitoring and life safety. His work has included major utility deployments, large-scale vehicle tracking systems and an early statewide deployment of laptops in police cruisers.
Through 24Aries, Eklund continues to invest in and accelerate early-stage companies. He is also a leader with StappOne Americas, helping expand its MedTech pressure-sensor technology in the U.S., and is active with the Security Industry Association’s Startups in Security initiative. He has also served for several years on the DC Capital Region Dealmakers Host Committee.
Francis Finelli
Former Partner & Managing Director, U.S. Buyout
The Carlyle Group
Frank Finelli is a Senior Advisor at The Carlyle Group, where he has played a significant role in aerospace, defense and security investments since joining the firm in 1998. He has led teams through numerous acquisitions and financial restructurings, including one of the first U.S. acquisitions of a continental European defense company, and has advised executives across Carlyle’s portfolio on creating value and reducing risk for decades.
Before Carlyle, Finelli served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Dan Coats, focusing on defense, intelligence and foreign affairs. He is also a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and distinguished graduate of the U.S. Military Academy.
Finelli holds a master’s degree in management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a Master of Military Arts in Strategy from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. A Chartered Financial Analyst, he has also served in leadership and advisory roles with numerous companies and organizations focused on defense, security and national interests.
Pallabi Saboo
Founder
Harmonia Holdings Group LLC
Pallabi Saboo is an award-winning dealmaker, former CEO, and board director with more than 25 years of experience building, scaling, and exiting businesses while consistently driving value through the full deal lifecycle.
She is a serial entrepreneur with four successful exits across industrial, technology, luxury retail, and services sectors—a track record that reflects not just individual wins, but a sustained ability to build and realize value across very different markets.
As Founder, CEO, and Chair of Harmonia Holdings Group, she built the company into a $100M+ enterprise with more than 400 employees and led its strategic exit in a major transaction, earning the Dealmaker Award from this organization. She was directly responsible for the full lifecycle of the deal, from positioning and negotiation through execution, and remains involved at the board level post-transaction, supporting M&A and strategic initiatives.
She currently serves on several boards, including GTT Data Solutions (public company), where she sits on Audit, M&A, Investment, and Governance Committees. In these roles, she is directly involved in oversight of financial reporting, capital allocation, enterprise risk, and strategic transactions. Her board experience spans public markets, a regional economy of approximately $175B, and institutions managing more than $400M in assets.
Mehul Sanghani
Founder & Former CEO
Octo
Mehul Sanghani founded Octo at age 30 and grew the company into a leading provider of IT strategy and business transformation solutions for corporations and federal government agencies. Under his leadership, Octo expanded its capabilities while earning recognition for innovation, workplace culture and philanthropy.
Sanghani has also made a significant impact through his commitment to education and community. In 2020, he and his wife, Hema, donated $10 million to their alma mater, Virginia Tech. The gift helped establish a food pantry to combat student food insecurity, supported scholarships for underrepresented graduate students pursuing artificial intelligence and endowed the university’s Center for Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics.
A Virginia Tech graduate with degrees in Industrial Systems Engineering, Finance and Psychology, Sanghani has served on the university’s Board of Visitors and Pamplin School of Business board, as well as the Northern Virginia Technology Council board, reflecting his continued commitment to innovation, education and opportunity.
Viyas Sundaram
CEO
STACK Construction Technologies
A technology executive with more than 25 years of experience, Viyas Sundaram has built, grown and operated innovative organizations by combining strategic leadership with a data-driven approach. Throughout his career, he has focused on using an organization’s history, capabilities and insights to create opportunities for future growth.
Over the past 15 years, he has successfully founded three companies and helped navigate two significant exits to global Fortune 500 companies, generating substantial returns for investors and employees. His leadership has also helped organizations increase top-line revenue by as much as 43 times, resulting in consistent nine-figure annual revenue performance.
In addition to organic growth, he has extensive experience executing acquisitions and building stronger organizations through integration. He has participated in the successful acquisition and integration of 12 companies, bringing together teams, capabilities and operations to create long-term value. His career reflects a consistent ability to transform technology businesses accelerate growth and deliver meaningful results.