Yesterday, Wednesday, September 7, TechCrunch Live hosted a special, extended event focusing on Minneapolis, Minnesota. The area is quickly becoming a major hotbed of startups in the Midwest, and the event featured some of the best founders and investors from the region. Following the panels and interviews, three Minneapolis startups competed for free tickets to TechCrunch Disrupt. 

Startups
Axon Athletics, a mental health platform for student athletes 
Kyros Care, a digital platform for substance recovery services.
NXgenPort, an implantable chemo port that features added sensors and remote connectivity functions.

Judges
Mahati Sridhar, vice president, Rise of the Rest Seed Fund
Sarah Hinkfuss, partner, Bain Capital Ventures

After deliberating and measuring the startups' potential for social or monetary impact, the two judges picked NXgenPort as the winner. The judges were impressed by NXgenPort’s CEO and co-founder Cathy Skinner, saying, in part, her pitch was well polished and made it easy to understand the complex nature of the company’s device and business model.