Finalist: Christi Cox

General Counsel
Epirus
University of Colorado Law School

Christi Cox is general counsel at Epirus, a Los Angeles-based technology start-up creating cutting-edge directed energy and power management systems. In just eight months at the company, she has already left a transformative mark on a company with equally transformative technology. In January 2022, Cox was the principal negotiator in closing Epirus’ Series C funding round - bringing in over $200 million dollars of new capital and boosting the company’s valuation to $1.35 billion.

She was the central legal point of contact for the transactions, ensuring that complex term sheets from the dozen-plus unique investor groups were executed swiftly. Cox was also instrumental in shaping Epirus’ Strategic Teaming Agreement with General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of the Fortune-100 company General Dynamics. This agreement has been key in deepening Epirus’ industry credibility and solidifying the company as a major player in the defense technology space.