Chi è ThreadMoat
ThreadMoat è la piattaforma di intelligence di mercato per l'IA industriale e il software di ingegneria, creata e mantenuta da Michael Finocchiaro — un analista indipendente con 30+ anni in Dassault Systèmes, PTC, IBM e HP, che oggi consiglia le aziende che le stanno disrupting.
Ogni profilo è curato a mano — non scraping né generazione IA — e aggiornato settimanalmente con eventi di finanziamento, lanci di prodotto e scoring competitivo.
761
Startup monitorate
>$15B
Finanziamenti VC mappati
43
Paesi
10
Sotto-segmenti di mercato
Dati aggiornati a Q1 2026
What Makes This Different
Three structural advantages that no scraper, no LLM, and no general-purpose database can replicate.
Quarterly Cohort Refresh
New startups, exits, and funding events added every quarter. Subscribers always work from the current cohort, not a year-old snapshot. The data compounds in value as the market evolves.
Proprietary 7-Dimension Scoring
Each company rated across Market Opportunity, Team Execution, Funding Efficiency, Growth Metrics, Technical Differentiation, Industry Impact, and Competitive Moat. Rated by a single analyst, consistently, since 2022. That continuity is the signal.
PLM-Native, Not Scraped
Crunchbase has 3M companies. We have 700+ that actually matter in engineering software. Every entry is hand-curated by a domain expert who spent 30 years inside the vendors being disrupted.
Michael Finocchiaro
Analista industriale · Consulente · Advisor
Parigi, Francia
Chi è Michael Finocchiaro
Michael è un analista senior indipendente di PLM e industria manifatturiera e il conduttore dei podcast AI Across the Product Lifecycle e The Future of PLM, focalizzati sul Digital Thread e l'adozione dell'IA industriale nell'ingegneria e nella manifattura.
Con 30+ anni in Dassault Systèmes (Sr. Director, 3DEXPERIENCE), PTC, IBM e HP, Michael oggi consiglia startup e aziende industriali su posizionamento, strategia go-to-market e implementazione enterprise. È anche l'autore di Kernel Wars — una storia del CAD, del PLM e delle battaglie dei kernel geometrici che hanno plasmato l'industria.
Ha lavorato presso
Ha lavorato con
Threaded! Serie di conferenze
Threaded! riunisce startup e leader del settore per sessioni di lavoro intensive su come l'IA sta trasformando l'ingegneria e la manifattura. I relatori devono mostrare esplicitamente come i loro prodotti si collegano al Digital Thread — quali sistemi integrano, quali decisioni migliorano e quali risultati misurabili consentono.
Co-sponsorizzato da Aras Corporation e dal podcast AI Across the Product Lifecycle, Threaded! collega fornitori di soluzioni di nuova generazione con leader aziendali nel PLM e nel Digital Thread. La condivisione guidata delle soluzioni e il feedback strutturato aiutano i fondatori a perfezionare la direzione del prodotto, affinare gli ICP e costruire prove credibili per gli acquirenti enterprise.
Threaded! Warwick
at Develop3D Live
Threaded! Miami
at Aras ACE 2026
More dates
Coming soon
Podcast e contenuti
AI Across the Product Lifecycle
Conversazioni sincere con fondatori, CTO e leader aziendali che costruiscono e implementano l'IA nell'ingegneria e nella manifattura. Startup deep-tech, storie reali di adozione.
The Future of PLM
Podcast video con leader di pensiero del settore che discutono l'evoluzione del PLM, la strategia del Digital Thread e le dinamiche di mercato.
DemystifyingPLM — Blog e archivio del podcast
Il sito gemello di ThreadMoat: un decennio di saggi, archivi degli episodi del podcast e approfondimenti su PLM, digital thread e software industriale.
What Counts as a “Startup”?
ThreadMoat uses a strict, consistent definition. Every company in the database is classified against these criteria so aggregates, benchmarks, and filters mean the same thing across every chart.
Core Definition
A startup is an independently operated company founded within the last 10 years that has not gone public, has not been acquired by a larger corporation or private equity firm, and is actively building or scaling a business — typically pre-profitability or not yet cash-flow positive at scale.
Incorporated and building, but no public announcement of funding, product launch, or market entry. Founders are known; the company operates below public radar by choice.
- ✓Founded within the last 10 years
- ✓Independently operated — not a subsidiary or carveout
- ✓No publicly disclosed funding rounds or product ship
- ✓Not acquired, not IPO'd, not PE-backed
Early-stage companies with Pre-Seed through Series A funding, or bootstrapped and independently growing. The defining trait is independent operation and active scaling intent — not whether they have taken VC money.
- ✓Founded within the last 10 years
- ✓Independently operated
- ✓Funding stage: Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A — or bootstrapped ≤10 years
- ✓Not acquired, not IPO'd, not PE-backed rollup
Bootstrapped companies ≤10 years old that are actively growing are included here.
Venture-backed companies at Series B or later in active expansion mode — scaling go-to-market, entering new geographies, or consolidating market share. Still private and pre-IPO.
- ✓Founded within the last 10 years (or restructured as an independent scaleup)
- ✓Independently operated
- ✓Funding stage: Series B, C, D, or later
- ✓Revenue-generating with proven product-market fit
Privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more that remain independent and pre-exit. Included because they are still private, investable, and strategically relevant to the market.
- ✓Privately held — no public listing
- ✓Independently operated (not a subsidiary)
- ✓Investor-assigned valuation of $1B+
- ✓Not acquired, not IPO'd
Statistical outliers with extreme valuations at stealth stage are excluded from aggregate charts with a methodology footnote.
Spun out of a larger corporation and now independently operated with its own cap table and management. Included when the spinout is operationally independent and less than 10 years old as a standalone entity.
- ✓Spun out from corporate parent within the last 10 years
- ✓Independent management with its own cap table
- ✓Has raised external (non-parent) capital or operates with full strategic autonomy
- ✓Not a wholly owned subsidiary — parent revenue/headcount are excluded
Excluded: carveouts where the underlying technology is >10 years old and the parent remains the effective owner (e.g. assets rebranded by a PE rollup).
Privately held companies that have grown to meaningful scale without institutional venture capital — self-funded through revenue, founder capital, or small angel rounds.
- ✓Founded within the last 10 years
- ✓No institutional VC or PE backing
- ✓Independently operated and generating revenue
- ✓Not acquired, not IPO'd
Excluded from Startup Counts
Companies that have been acquired (by a larger corporation or PE firm), gone public via IPO, shut down, or are classified as PE rollups of mature software assets are tracked separately but excluded from all startup aggregates, benchmarks, and count metrics. This prevents distortion of the market picture by companies that are no longer independently competing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ThreadMoat?
ThreadMoat is a market intelligence platform providing competitive scoring, funding data, investor networks, and interactive analytics for the industrial AI and engineering software landscape.
Who builds ThreadMoat?
ThreadMoat is built by Michael Finocchiaro, an engineering software and industrial AI expert with 35+ years of experience across PLM, CAD, simulation, and manufacturing software.
What markets does ThreadMoat cover?
ThreadMoat covers 761 startups across PLM, CAD, CAE, simulation, IoT, industrial AI, manufacturing software, and adjacent engineering technology sectors.
How is ThreadMoat different from Crunchbase or PitchBook?
Crunchbase and PitchBook cover millions of companies across every sector. ThreadMoat covers only the engineering software and industrial AI startups that matter, curated by a domain expert who spent 30 years inside the vendors being disrupted. Every entry is hand-scored across 7 dimensions: market opportunity, team execution, funding efficiency, growth metrics, technical differentiation, industry impact, and competitive moat.
How often is the data updated?
ThreadMoat data is updated at least once per week with new startup intelligence — new companies, exits, and funding events — so subscribers always work from the current state of the market, not a stale snapshot.