The Hindu Business Line : Empower to raise $3-4 m to market `Adrenalin'

EMPOWER Works, a Polaris Software Group company, plans to raise $3-4 million from private equity firms in the next two to three months. The company also proposes to change its name to Adrenalin eSystems, which would continue to be a Polaris company, said Ms Roshini Bakshi, Group Vice-resident - Marketing, Empower.

So far, the Polaris Group has invested $3 million in Empower. Polaris Software Lab holds 49 per cent stake and Polaris Holdings Ltd holds 51 per cent in the company, she told Business Line.

The fresh infusion of funds is to market Adrenalin, a human resource software, in India and abroad. This year, the company will spend around Rs 3 crore on advertising in India. A "significant amount" will be spent in the UK as well, she said.

At present, there are around 35 clients (65,000 users) using Adrenalin, and the company is adding about seven clients every quarter. Some of them are Dr. Reddy Labs, Hero Honda, Royal Sundaram, QAI (a software testing company), ACNeilsen ORG-MARG (market research services) and AIG Systems & Solutions (software).

Adrenalin has seven modules such as performance management and resource planning that enables a HR department to achieve organisation's business requirements. It enables tracking and appraising employee's performance towards business goals and deploys the right people for the right job.

According to Ms Bakshi, the cost of Adrenalin is based on a licence fee, implementation and customisation. It ranges between Rs 1.5 lakh (for a single module) and Rs 30 lakh (for more modules).