Barrière Scales Production Without the Cashflow Crunch, Thanks to Alethium
The Problem
Barrière needed to scale production for holiday retail placements, but supplier prepayments and slow retail payouts squeezed cashflow
The Stakes
The mismatch between production timing and payouts risked slowing growth and tying up critical working capital.
The Solution
Barrière partnered with Alethium to pay suppliers next day, while repaying on a schedule that matched their cashflow
Barrière scaled production for a holiday retail rollout without delaying a single purchase order
Working capital stayed free for marketing, inventory turns, and growth rather than locked into supplier deposits
Payment timing aligned with revenue timing, giving the team predictability and confidence to commit to larger retail orders
Barrière
Barrière is an up-and-coming consumer wellness brand known for its premium topical patches that deliver vitamins and adaptogens through the skin. With fashion-forward designs and science-backed formulations, Barrière has quickly expanded into major national retailers including Walmart, Ulta, and Hudson’s. The brand is led by two female founders who are redefining the category with accessible, design-led wellness products.
Vision Meditech
Vision Meditech, Barrière’s manufacturing partner, is a leading developer of transdermal and topical health products for wellness and consumer brands. They formulate and produce the patches behind many of today’s most innovative health and supplement products.
The Challenge
Scaling a wellness brand in retail introduces a predictable but painful financial challenge: retailers typically pay on 45–60 day terms, while manufacturers require payment upfront to begin production. For fast-growing brands, this mismatch creates a cashflow gap at the exact moment demand increases, turning momentum into operational strain.
Barrière was experiencing this pressure firsthand. As their patches gained traction and major retailers began placing larger orders, the brand needed to increase production to keep up. But paying their manufacturer, Vision Meditech, upfront while waiting weeks for retailer payouts tied up critical working capital and slowed the pace of scale.
With retailers paying weeks after delivery and production needing to start immediately, Barrière faced growing operational uncertainty. Cashflow timing was unpredictable and existing financing options weren’t well suited to the rapid increase in order volume. At the same time, Vision Meditech didn’t accept credit cards and needed confirmation of payment before starting production, which forced them into an uncomfortable position or either delaying manufacturing or beginning work without guaranteed funds. This created friction on both sides and made long-term planning more difficult for the brand and its supplier.
Together, these pressures created friction across the supply chain: constrained cashflow for Barrière, elevated risk for Vision Meditech, and less efficient production for both teams. The brand needed a way to keep production moving without tying up working capital or putting strain on its supplier relationship.
"Before Alethium, we faced challenges in securing the type of financing we needed to scale production. With Alethium’s flexible terms, we can plan ahead, launch new products faster, and keep up with demand."
Alexa Adams, CEO, Barrière
The Solution
To eliminate financing friction and support customer growth, Vision Meditech partnered with Alethium to offer Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) terms at checkout. This allowed Barriere to unlock working capital and place larger, more strategic orders without upfront payment.
With Alethium’s support, Barriere could finance purchases on 30-, 60-, or 90-day terms, improving cash flow and operational flexibility. Alethium handled credit assessment, compliance, and collections, removing risk and overhead from Vision Meditech’s operations.
Jon Bowtell, CEO, Vision Meditech
The Impact
With Alethium in place, both Barrière and Vision Meditech saw immediate operational improvements. Vision Meditech was able to fulfill a larger production run than originally planned and received payment the very next day, giving them predictable cashflow and eliminating the need to extend informal credit. Because they no longer had to begin production without confirmed funds—or navigate around the fact that they didn’t accept credit cards—they dramatically reduced their exposure to financing risk. The improved visibility into order volumes also allowed them to plan production more efficiently, reduce per-unit costs, and reinvest freed-up capital into R&D, new formulations, and customer support.
For Barrière, Alethium unlocked the ability to secure the inventory volumes required by their retail partners without tying up critical cash. With flexible repayment terms matched to their revenue cycle, the brand could scale production confidently, meet demand, and prepare for new product launches. What had been a bottleneck became a competitive advantage: they could place larger orders, unlock volume-based pricing, and strengthen relationships with their key retail accounts. The financing access they gained—purpose-built for the realities of fast-growing wellness brands—opened growth pathways that traditional credit solutions couldn’t.
Together, Barrière and Vision Meditech moved from a transactional, timing-constrained relationship to one built on predictability, flexibility, and shared momentum—positioning both sides of the supply chain to grow faster and more efficiently.
