ESTEVAN — Jill Ruep, creator of what she says is the first Indigenous-led beading app in North America, has won a rural pitch contest in Estevan, securing $18,000 in funding and support to grow her culturally inspired tech business.

Ruep's company, Ma Fii Lii Rasaad (Michif for My Daughter’s Beads), was selected as the winner of the rural pitch contest that was part of the Innovation Conference for Economic Development (ICED) in Rural Areas Sept. 23 and 24 at Affinity Place in Estevan. A panel of five judges from Western Canada selected her business from a field of four entries.

She won a $15,000 investment along with $3,000 in support from the McKercher LLP.

In her speech to the crowd and the judges, Ruep told the crowd she is the first Indigenous person in North America, and possibly

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