Global Entrepreneur Kathy Ireland Announces Strategic Investment in AI Support Automation Leader Capacity

Kathy Ireland Deepens Technology Investment, Championing AI-Powered Solutions to Drive Global Business Efficiency

ST. LOUIS, March 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Kathy Ireland, the Chair, CEO, and Chief Designer of kathy ireland® Brands, today announced a significant personal investment in Capacity, a unified CX Automation Platform led by Founder and CEO David Karandish. This investment marks a strategic step in deepening the ties between the global brand mogul and the tech company, following a year of impactful implementation of Capacity's technology in Ireland's own business ecosystem.

Ranked as one of the most successful self-made women in the world, Ireland's business spans a multitude of products and services internationally, generating billions in retail sales. Ireland is known for her highly selective investment approach, committing only to ventures that align with her values and promise tangible ROI.

"We pride ourselves in partnering with entities that reflect our core values of providing solutions and empowering our customers," said Kathy Ireland. "Our experience with Capacity over the past year has transformed our operational complexities into a streamlined process. This investment is a reflection of our belief in David Karandish's vision and a testament to the measurable value Capacity offers to its global customer base."

Why Kathy Ireland is Investing in Capacity

Ireland's investment focuses on Capacity's ability to solve the "fragmented tech" problem in contact centers by providing a single, intelligent orchestration layer for the entire enterprise:

• A Unified CX Automation Platform: Capacity replaces the chaos of managing 4–5 disconnected AI vendors with one unified platform for virtual agents, human agent assist and outbound engagement. This eliminates the hidden annual costs of point-solution overhead, which can range from $300k to over $1M.
  
  
• The "Train Once, Use Everywhere" Advantage: Through its proprietary AI Knowledge Orchestration Layer, businesses connect their data once, and Capacity automatically applies that intelligence across chat, voice, email, and SMS. This ensures consistent, accurate answers across every channel while reducing knowledge drift.
  
  
• Driving Revenue and Continuous Improvement: The platform doesn't just reduce costs; it accelerates revenue through AI-driven outbound campaigns that capture leads before they go cold. Additionally, a built-in learning loop uses conversational intelligence to analyze interactions, automatically optimizing both human and virtual agent performance.

"Bringing a globally trusted leader like Kathy Ireland into our private investor group is a meaningful milestone that speaks volumes about our growth story," said David Karandish. "Kathy's legacy is built on entrepreneurship and scale. Her decision to invest underscores the strength of our technology and enriches our capability to innovate as we forge ahead in our mission to help people do their best work."

Ireland joins a select group of private investors dedicated to accelerating Capacity's long-term vision of transforming enterprise operations through the power of AI.

About the kathy ireland® Brand:

Founded in 1993, Kathy Ireland, celebrated by Forbes as "Supermodel turned Super Mogul", has grown her business into one of the world's most powerful licensing empires. Kathy's brand spans fashion, home furnishing, accessories, wellness, fintech and more. According to Women's Wear Daily (WWD), Kathy Ireland is responsible for "the most valuable woman-owned licensing company in American history."

Kathy Ireland's visionary leadership has earned her multiple awards including several Good Housekeeping Seals, induction into the Licensing International Hall of Fame (2021, the youngest person ever inducted), and recognition as one of America's most successful self-made women. The Kathy Ireland brand emphasizes quality, accessibility, family-focused solutions, and empowerment for busy moms and modern customers.

"Kathy Ireland has built a powerful company by leading with integrity and putting people ahead of profit, which is why the kathy ireland® brand is trusted by parents and families worldwide." - Rich Wuerthele, CEO of Crayola

Ms. Ireland's fashion career began on covers including Teen, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Cosmopolitan and, of course, Sports Illustrated's best-selling swimsuit cover of all time. As of 2022, Kathy has graced the cover of Forbes three times, in celebration of becoming, according to Forbes: One of America's most successful self-made women.

About Capacity

Founded in 2017, Capacity is an all-in-one, AI-powered support automation platform that uses practical and generative AI to deflect tickets, emails and phone calls—so your team can do their best work. More than 20,000 companies across industries use Capacity for external customer support and internal employee enablement. Today, Capacity offers support over web, SMS, email, voice, social, Slack, MS Teams, help desks and more. To learn more about Capacity, visit Capacity.com.

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