• Piston raised $7.5 million in total funding, including a $6.1 million seed round led by Spark Capital.
  • The platform is used by over 120 fleet operators across 800 gas stations, processing more than $20 million in annualised transaction volume.

Piston, a Cupertino-based startup focused on streamlining fuel transactions for commercial fleets, has raised a total of USD 7.5 million in funding. The latest USD 6.1 million seed round was led by Spark Capital, with additional backing from Pear VC and BOND.

This follows an earlier USD 1.4 million pre-seed round raised through the PearX accelerator.

The startup plans to leverage the capital to scale its engineering, operations, and go-to-market teams, and to expand its network of fleet and gas station partners across the United States.

Founded by former fleet operators Vikram Sekhon and Shivam Shah, Piston replaces traditional fleet cards with an app-based payment system. Fleet drivers pay for fuel using app-generated QR codes, which are linked to a vehicle’s ID, location, fuel type, and time of transaction.

This system enhances traceability and reduces fraud, addressing longstanding criticisms of high fees and limited oversight in existing fleet card programs.

While headquartered in California, Piston maintains a key engineering and operations hub in Kolkata, India.

Since April 2024, the team in India has expanded from just five employees to over 25, indicating rapid organisational growth and technical development capacity.

According to company-provided figures, Piston’s platform is currently used by over 120 fleet operators at more than 800 gas stations, processing over USD 20 million in annualised transaction volume. The company also reports a month-on-month volume growth of 50 per cent.

One of Piston’s defining features is its ease of deployment for gas stations. The platform does not require new hardware or integration with existing point-of-sale systems, making it particularly attractive to independent gas stations, many of which operate under franchise models.

Edited by Annette George