How BeaA sustainably grows its business with Montonio and Softloans

‍BeaA is a womenswear brand from Riga that makes timeless, comfortable clothing by hand, in small runs, for women who want to feel like themselves in what they wear.

It carries its founder's whole history. Beate Gleim started sewing her own clothes at twelve and spent years in fashion from every side, making her own designs, working in retail, then as a shop manager, personal shopper and assistant to designers, before building something of her own. In March 2022, that became BeaA.

The brand began with luxury loungewear, pyjamas and homewear meant to make women feel elegant at home. Within a year, customers were wearing the pieces well past it: to work, travelling, out to dinner. BeaA followed, reworking fabrics and cuts into an everyday collection while keeping the motto it launched with, "Be at Home with Yourself."

Every piece is still handmade in BeaA's own Riga studio by professional seamstresses, much of it one-of-a-kind or made to order from XS to XXL.

I believe a woman should never have to choose between feeling good and looking fabulous. In between a fast-paced everyday routine, clothing is the one thing that should not be complicated, so we create clothes that set your personality free.

- Beate Gleim, Founder, BeaA

Paying for a collection months before it sells

Growth in fashion costs money long before it makes any. Fabric has to be bought, production booked, and garments made well before a customer places an order, and as BeaA grew faster than planned, that gap widened. Stronger demand meant larger production runs and more capacity, and it raised two risks at once: sell out of a piece that's working and lose the momentum behind it, or over-produce and tie up cash in stock that moves slowly.

The gap is widest heading into the year's biggest selling weeks. Fabric and production for Black Friday and the holiday season have to be paid for months ahead, so the money goes out long before the sales come in. BeaA needed working capital to cover that stretch without slowing down.

Financing that follows the sales

Through Montonio, BeaA came across Merchant Growth Financing, the revenue-based financing Montonio offers with its partner Softloans. What made it fit was the repayment structure. There's no collateral, no interest and no fixed monthly schedule. The cost is a single fee deducted from the loan amount, and the business repays an agreed percentage of each sale.

For a seasonal brand that matters. Repayments move with the shop, faster when a collection is selling and lighter when things quieten down, so the financing tracks BeaA's actual turnover instead of demanding the same payment in a slow February as in a busy November.

A short application and an open line

The application is a short digital process rather than a paperwork exercise, which lets the team keep their attention on products and customers instead of a loan file. Offers are made within 24 hours and based on real store data, which suits a business where a production slot or a fabric order can't always wait.

For Thomas, who runs business development at BeaA, the communication mattered as much as the mechanics. Most problems get solved when both sides talk openly, directly and quickly, and that is how the process ran: questions answered directly, clear terms, no drawn-out back and forth. Asked to sum it up in three words, BeaA's answer was fast, flexible, straightforward.

Room to build ahead of demand

BeaA is clear-eyed about what financing does and does not do. It doesn't create a business. Products, customers, marketing and a clear strategy do that. What it does is let a working business act when demand is already there, and for BeaA, that means room to buy fabric, plan bigger production runs, and build inventory ahead of the season instead of chasing it.

That room matters more as the brand expands, across ecommerce, physical retail and new Baltic and Nordic markets, with more capital tied up in fabric and finished stock as it goes. The near-term priority is building inventory for the run-up to Black Friday and the holidays, which means committing to production well before the sales arrive.

The principle BeaA works to is worth borrowing: know your numbers, know your cash flow, know exactly why you need the capital, then pick financing that fits the rhythm of your business. On that basis, growth financing has become a standing part of how BeaA plans its next stage rather than a one-off.

To keep an eye on BeaA and their developments, follow them on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.