Piston, a payments platform designed for commercial fleet fuel transactions, has raised USD 7.5 million in total funding. The latest USD 6.1 million seed round was led by Spark Capital, with participation from Pear VC and BOND, following an earlier USD 1.4 million pre-seed round through the PearX accelerator.

The startup, founded by former fleet operators Vikram Sekhon and Shivam Shah, operates a cardless fuel payment system that allows fleet drivers to pay at gas stations using app-generated QR codes. Each transaction is tied to specific data points such as vehicle ID, location, fuel type, and time, in an effort to improve traceability and reduce fraud. The system is aimed at replacing conventional fleet card systems, which are often criticised for high fees and limited control.

Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Piston also maintains a significant engineering and operations team in Kolkata, India, where the company has grown from five to over 25 employees since April 2024. The startup plans to use the funding to expand its engineering, operations, and go-to-market teams, as well as grow its network of fleet and gas station partners.

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

Piston’s model also offers independent gas stations. Many of which operate under franchise agreements, direct access to commercial fleet demand without needing to install new hardware. The platform is designed to work without integration with existing point-of-sale systems.