After Ashley Mooneyham gave birth to her first child, she found the breast-pumping experience frustrating and dissatisfying. “Why are breast pumps failing?” she asked the crowd during her pitch at Monday night’s MN Cup startup competition grand finale. “The good news is the solution is right in front of us.”

The MN Cup startup competition awarded its $50,000 non-dilutive cash prize to Momease Solutions, a pump-enhancing bra that adds heat and massage, instead of using suction alone as with a traditional breast pump. Founded in Plymouth in 2021, the company says it’s designed to improve the pumping experience and even increase breast milk production by 50%.

Mooneyham and co-founder Jennie Lynch say Momease’s product stands out in the marketplace because it prioritizes women’s comfort. “We are looking for a product that works,” Mooneyham said to the crowd. “It’s time to meet women where they are at with an evidence-based solution.”

This is Momease’s second run in the MN Cup competition. Last year, the founders placed third in the general division. When asked what was different this year, Mooneyham jokingly shared that she had an “unfair advantage.”

“I’m actually four months postpartum right now [with my second child],” she said in an interview with TCB. “I’m able to actually test our product while it’s in development … It was being able to have these design decisions made to prove our functionality–that was the really big differentiator this year.”

Next up, Mooneyham and Lynch are taking the bra to the University of Minnesota for a clinical study. The founders plan to use the cash prize to create custom, raw prototypes sized for individual women who are participating in the study before officially launching it to the market.

“The breast pumps are failing women, and women’s health is having an inflection moment in the county with it being a prioritization and front of mind,” Mooneyham said. “We’re excited to be a part of the momentum with Momease Solutions.”

MN Cup awarded its runner-up prize of $15,000 to Mozrt, a cross-border payment platform for banks and credit unions to compete with popular payment systems such as PayPal.

MN Cup, which is in its 20th year, ranks as the state’s largest startup competition.

“Why has MN Cup endured?” said Jamie Prenkert, dean of the Carlson School of Management. “MN Cup has endured because of the entrepreneurial spirit of Minnesota: more than 26,000 entrepreneurs, ranging in age from eight to 93 hailing from every county in the state, have greatly stepped forward with their innovative and interesting ideas.”

The competition has given out more than $5.8 million in non-dilutive cash prizes. The competition regularly relies on legacy judges, mentors, alumni, sponsors, and volunteers.

“We wanted to share that story of what a great place Minnesota is for entrepreneurs,” said Scott Litman. “We thought MN Cup would be the platform to elevate the story of entrepreneurs and bring the business community, the education community, the University of Minnesota, and the state of Minnesota together all in one place.”