The Halifax skill swap for women that became Vendeve.

Swapskis joined Stompstart on 11 March 2014 from Halifax, offering to help women "who are skill-rich but cash-poor" gain experience and pursue their passions. Its listing described "a female-focused online community" where members got the services they needed "by swapping their time and talents with other fab fems," from accounting and hairdressing to cooking and dog-walking. The screenshot uploaded with it shows a magenta homepage headed "Savvy Women Swap." and "The World's First Skill Swapping Site," with a sign-up form because the site was still "Coming Soon." Its stage was alpha.

In January 2015 Entrevestor reported that Swapskis, led by founder and chief executive Katelyn Bourgoin, had become Vendeve. Advisers, among them Vicki Saunders of SheEO, had recommended the change because the word "swap" confused the company's message to investors and to the community, the outlet said. Vendeve turned into a cash-based marketplace for women's services, keeping swaps but no longer leading with them. Bourgoin said it had about 1,250 users in Halifax and was launching that week in four more cities, among them Toronto and Calgary. It had hired a chief operating officer, Calee Blanchart, and was raising about $400,000 in equity.

In May 2018 Entrevestor wrote that it had been "just over a year since Katelyn Bourgoin folded her company Vendeve." Bourgoin gave her own account of what went wrong: "I did 400 interviews before starting Vendeve. I felt very confident that I checked all the boxes and asked all the questions but I realized, after the fact, I was unintentionally biasing those interviews." She also said her "glasses were a bit rose-coloured about how easy it would be to raise those funds." By then she was working as a growth strategist, training clients in customer discovery.

The swapskis.com address no longer serves a page.