Female-Owned Beauty Brand Hildun Secures $10k Development Fund

Hildun, a beauty brand founded by Suzy Griffin Dunne, has been revealed as the winner of the Brown Thomas and Arnotts Pitch '25 initiative, an annual event that champions the most exciting emerging Irish brands and founders. Created to empower innovative start-ups and up-and-coming entrepreneurs based in Ireland and Northern Ireland, Pitch is an annual competition from Arnotts that gives local businesses a boost. Now returning for its fifth year, the initiative is offering the overall winner a prize package worth €70,000, consisting of a €10,000 business development fund from Arnotts, financial advice from BKK Financial, plus a media campaign fund courtesy of The Business Post, Newstalk, and PML Group. Last year, five female business owners were chosen as the finalists, with Hildun ultimately standing out thanks to its exceptional product performance, strong commercial traction and clear founder vision. Speaking about her Pitch '25 win, Suzy Griffin Dunne said: "Winning Pitch '25 is an incredible honour and a defining moment for Hildun Beauty. Arnotts is an iconic Irish retailer, and to receive this level of support and belief from Brown Thomas Arnotts is deeply meaningful. "From day one, Hildun has been about letting product excellence lead the conversation. Pitch ’25 has strengthened every aspect of the business — from strategy to scale — and I’m so excited to bring Hildun to customers in Arnotts as we enter our biggest year yet." Dunne, a mother of three, founded Hildun while on maternity leave, after having spotted a gap in the market for high-performance luxury makeup that creates a lasting impact without incredibly inflated prices. At home with her newest arrival, Dunne embarked on an ambitious mission to collaborate with some of the world's leading R&D teams, developing formulas designed to impress both makeup lovers and professional artists alike. What emerged are products that resonated with buyers almost immediately, including the Silk to Set Lip Pencil and the bespoke Melting Moisture Balms, developed in Italy and South Korea, and the Silk to Set Kajal Eyeliners, which went viral and won three national UK beauty awards, including the prestigious Bazaar Best of the Best Eyeliner Award. To date, over 100,000 Silk to Set Kajal Eyeliners have been sold. Most recently, Hildun launched the Luxe Quad Eyeshadows in Naked Diamonds and Mythical Romance, alongside the Immortal Metallics Waterproof Eyeliners, all of which have been praised by the brand's community, with the Mythical Romance quickly becoming a standout bestseller, celebrated for its cool-toned, ultra-wearable shades with high-impact payoff. Crucially, the brand launched without a 'face' or 'spokeperson', going against all typical practices for a luxury makeup brand, especially a homegrown one. As well as her award-winning products, Dunne has been busy expanding her career further, having written about beauty for a number of publications - including RTÉ Lifestyle - in the past and now with her podcast, A Beautiful Breakdown, which she co-hosts with presenter James Patrice.