Piston Technologies raises $15M to expand its cardless payments tech for gas-guzzling truckers

Piston Technologies, a startup specializing in cardless payments for commercial trucking fleets, has secured $15 million in Series A funding to further expand its technology. Led by FPV Ventures, the round also saw participation from Spark Capital and Pear VC, adding to the $22.5 million raised to date. The company aims to address the challenges faced by the $900 billion U.S. trucking industry, which still relies on outdated payment methods for fuel purchases.

Fleet operators currently provide fuel cards or company credit cards to drivers, leading to fraudulent payments and difficulty in tracking spending. Piston Technologies' co-founders, Vikram Sekhon and Shivam Shah, experienced these issues firsthand as former commercial truck fleet operators. Their solution involves a cardless payment network that connects fleets directly to gas stations, using a QR code scanner for authorization.

This system records detailed transaction data, eliminating fraud risks and administrative burdens associated with traditional payment methods. Additionally, Piston Technologies leverages AI capabilities, including 'Piston Guard' for real-time fraud detection and 'Piston Analytics Agent' for analyzing fuel spending trends.

The startup has seen significant traction, with its merchant network growing over 40 times in the past year and processing payments at more than 2,000 gas stations across 48 states. Piston Technologies aims to expand its network to every U.S. region within 18 months, eventually exploring broader logistics payments infrastructure.

FPV Ventures' Nikunj Kothari supports the company, noting the massive fuel expenditure by trucking firms and the inefficiencies of outdated payment systems. The founders' firsthand experience with the challenges of fuel fraud and administrative burdens further validates the need for Piston's innovative solution.