Empowered - Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) Software

What Empowered - Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) Software does

Empowered Systems Ltd. is a London-headquartered, privately held software company that has operated continuously since at least 1995, employing approximately 76 people and specializing in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) software for the global financial services sector. The company's flagship product, Connected Risk, is a modular, highly configurable GRC platform that serves as a unified system of record for audit, risk, and compliance functions. Connected Risk is organized into interconnected modules covering Internal Audit, Internal Controls, Enterprise Risk, Third-Party Risk, Model Risk, Policy & Compliance, Operational Risk, and Regulatory Change Management. AutoAudit, a registered trademark of Empowered Systems IP Holder LLC, is positioned as the industry's most trusted audit management solution. Named enterprise customers include Citi, LSEG, MUFG, Nomura, RBC, Santander, SMBC, TD, Aegon, and ADCB, alongside non-financial logos Alfa Laval and Qatar Charity.

Name

Empowered - Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) Software

Legal name

Empowered Systems Ltd.

Website

https://empoweredgrc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The architecture is built for cross-functional risk and compliance work, featuring configurable forms, workflows, reports, role-based access control, version control and audit trails, embedded dashboards, automated tasks, and a no-code workflow builder. The platform supports multiple geographies and regulatory regimes and integrates with Microsoft Office, Active Directory/SSO, regulatory content providers, BI and reporting tools, data science and modeling tools, and document management systems. Coverage spans SOX/ICFR, COSO, Basel III, SR 11-7, DORA, NIST, ISO 27001, CSRD, UK Bribery Act, Sapin II, plus country-specific regimes such as J-SOX, Canada OSFI E-23, and Bank of England SS1/23.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Platforms (BPAEAPAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Risk, Controls & Governance (GRC) Platforms (FSAFAOAG), IT Governance, Risk & Compliance (IT GRC) Platforms (HDAEALAK), Compliance, GRC Workflow & Audit Automation Platforms (HDAEAHAL)

Keywords

• Governance risk compliance software
• GRC platform
• Audit management software
• Regulatory compliance solutions
• Enterprise risk management

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Software Platform Subscription: Connected Risk platform is offered as a modular SaaS solution with purpose-built modules that work together. The platform supports multiple entities and geographies, suggesting enterprise-wide deployment with likely annual or multi-year subscription contracts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Empowered sells the Connected Risk platform, a modular, highly configurable SaaS GRC system that brings teams, data, and processes into one system of record. The platform is purpose-built for cross-functional risks, controls, audits, policies, and regulatory obligations across multiple entities, geographies, and regulatory regimes, and is delivered to regulated financial institutions and other enterprises primarily on a quote-based annual subscription.

Product overview

Empowered Systems offers Connected Risk, a modular GRC platform that unifies audit, risk, and compliance functions into one system of record. The platform includes interconnected modules: Internal Audit, Internal Controls, Enterprise Risk, Third-Party Risk, Model Risk, Policy & Compliance, Operational Risk, and Regulatory Change. The AutoAudit sub-brand provides the industry's most trusted audit management solution. The platform also offers a FREE Audit & Risk Maturity Assessment tool. The architecture is built for flexibility with role-based access control, version control and audit trails, embedded dashboards, automated tasks, workflow builder, and multi-entity support. The platform integrates with Microsoft Office, Active Directory/SSO, regulatory content providers, BI & reporting tools, data science tools, and document management systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Connected Risk™: The company's flagship GRC platform that brings together audit, risk, and compliance programs into one unified system.
• AutoAudit®

Products and services

• Connected Risk

Quantifiable outcome

• 5.0 rating based on 1,234 customer ratings

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Wolters KluwercoreTechnology or IntegrationPlatform partner providing regulatory content and integration with Empowered's Connected Risk GRC platform. Wolters Kluwer is a leading provider of regulatory information and compliance solutions.
• Dun & BradstreetcoreTechnology or IntegrationPlatform partner integrated with Connected Risk for third-party risk management capabilities. Dun & Bradstreet provides business intelligence and risk data for vendor assessment.
• EYcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership with Ernst & Young (EY) as a platform partner, leveraging EY's consulting expertise in risk and compliance for joint go-to-market and solution development.
• RSM FrancesecondaryImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerRegional implementation partner providing consulting and system integration services for Connected Risk deployments in the French market.
• GRCSsecondaryTechnology or IntegrationPlatform partner providing specialized GRC-related technology integration with the Connected Risk platform.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• LogicGate: LogicGate's Risk Cloud is a configurable, workflow-centric GRC platform with growing traction in financial services. It overlaps with Empowered in configurability and enterprise risk workflows, though it is more recent and smaller in financial services than Empowered.

Broad incumbents

• SAP GRC: SAP's Governance, Risk and Compliance solutions are tightly integrated with SAP finance systems and are commonly used by global enterprises including banks. Empowered's modular, multi-framework approach competes with SAP GRC particularly where customers want best-of-breed depth rather than ERP-bundled GRC.
• IBM OpenPages: IBM OpenPages is an established GRC platform widely deployed in tier-1 financial institutions. It overlaps with Empowered's Connected Risk across operational risk, regulatory compliance and internal audit, and competes for the same enterprise wallet at global banks.
• ServiceNow GRC: ServiceNow's Integrated Risk Management (IRM) offering is a broad, platform-led GRC suite used by large enterprises including financial institutions. It competes with Empowered on integrated risk, compliance and audit workflows, though ServiceNow's strength is breadth and platform bundling rather than financial-services depth.

Direct peers

• Diligent (Galvanize): Diligent's Galvanize product is one of the most direct GRC competitors for Empowered, offering audit, risk and compliance modules heavily used by financial services and highly regulated industries. Both vendors compete head-to-head in enterprise GRC RFPs at large banks.
• AuditBoard: AuditBoard is a leading audit-focused GRC platform adopted by mid-market and enterprise companies. It is a direct competitor to Empowered's audit management and AutoAudit franchise and increasingly expanding into broader risk and compliance modules.
• Riskonnect: Riskonnect provides an integrated risk and GRC platform used by financial services and other regulated industries, with modules for enterprise risk, operational risk, internal audit and third-party risk — a very direct competitor to Empowered's Connected Risk platform.
• NAVEX Global: NAVEX Global (formerly Lockpath/Greenlight) provides ethics and compliance, third-party risk and GRC platforms used by regulated enterprises. It competes with Empowered particularly in policy management, third-party risk and compliance program management.
• MetricStream: MetricStream is a longstanding GRC vendor with strong penetration in global banks, offering solutions for operational risk, compliance, audit and IT risk. It competes with Empowered in the financial-services GRC segment and frequently appears alongside Empowered in tier-1 bank GRC evaluations.

Others

• Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions (OneSumX): Wolters Kluwer is both an Empowered platform partner and a RegTech competitor via its OneSumX solutions for regulatory reporting and compliance. The dual relationship makes it an important comparable — it competes for regulatory reporting and risk data budget at the same financial-services buyers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@empoweredgrc
• Facebookfacebook.com/empoweredgrc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/empoweredgrc
• Instagraminstagram.com/empoweredsystems

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Empowered - Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) Software