New direct payment network founded by former fleet owners eliminates fraud while reducing costs and driving business to independent gas stations
CUPERTINO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / June 10, 2025 / Piston, a cardless payments platform that connects commercial fleets and gas stations, today announced it has raised $6.1 million in seed funding, led by Spark Capital with participation from Pear VC and BOND. The round follows a $1.4 million pre-seed raised through the PearX accelerator, bringing Piston’s total funding to $7.5 million. Piston will use the capital to scale go-to-market operations and expand its fast-growing network of independent gas stations and commercial fleet partners.
Founded by former fleet operators, Vikram Sekhon and Shivam Shah, Piston is redesigning fuel payments from the ground up. Rather than stacking another card on top of legacy systems, Piston built its own infrastructure, which eliminates card fraud and retail price markups, two of the biggest pain points for fleets. Drivers pay using a secure, app-generated QR code that ties each transaction to a specific vehicle, time, location, and fuel type. On the backend, gas stations connect directly to Piston’s platform, gaining access to new commercial demand and real-time insights without the need for costly hardware or third-party interference.
“Fuel was our second-largest expense after payroll, and the most chaotic to manage,” said Vikram Sekhon, co-founder and CEO of Piston. “We tried every solution on the market when we ran our own fleets, and none of them worked. So we decided to build one ourselves from scratch without the baggage of legacy card networks.”
The result is a new kind of payments network that serves both sides of the fuel marketplace. For fleets, Piston offers real-time fraud prevention, savings through direct station relationships, and zero card management overhead. For stations, especially the 90% that are franchise-owned, Piston offers a way to attract loyal commercial business-something they’ve historically been unable to do, even with brand affiliations.
The company is currently serving over 120 fleets, across 800 gas stations, and processing more than $20 million in annualized volume, growing 50% month-over-month. With the seed round, Piston is actively hiring across its go-to-market, product and engineering teams, with operations in Cupertino, CA, Lehi, UT, and Kolkata, India.
“Piston isn’t just replacing the fleet card, it’s redefining the economics of commercial fuel payments,” said Arpan Shah at Spark Capital. “From the very beginning, Vikram and Shivam were laser-focused on a problem they knew intimately. They have built the most innovative way for both last-mile fleet owners and gas stations to transact seamlessly and transparently with each other with access to data insights that were previously impossible for them to see with any other solution. We’re thrilled to partner with them on their journey to rethink fuel payments for thousands of small businesses in the transportation industry.”
“Vikram and Shivam have both operated fleets themselves and lived the pain of skyrocketing fuel expenses and rampant abuse on fleet cards,” said Shravan Reddy, Partner at Pear VC. “They identified a huge problem impacting an underserved market and we believe there is enormous opportunity. During their time in our pre-seed accelerator PearX, they consistently exceeded every growth target and we’re excited to continue supporting them in this next phase.”
Piston continues to expand its station partner network and is working with independent fuel retailers across the country to integrate directly with its platform, unlocking commercial demand and modernizing one of the most overlooked parts of the mobility economy.
“Fuel and credit cards were bleeding us dry with hidden fees, negligible rebates, and endless fraud disputes,” said Ash Kapoor, President at Saga Kapital Group Inc with a fleet of 200+ trucks across multiple states. “After moving to Piston, we’ve lowered our fuel spend by double digits and cut reconciliation from two days to two clicks. Our drivers fill up faster, our accountants sleep better, and the savings drop straight to the bottom line.”
ABOUT PISTON:
Piston is a cardless payments platform for fleets and gas stations, replacing outdated card-based systems with direct, secure, and intelligent transactions. Built by former fleet owners who experienced the pain firsthand, Piston eliminates fraud, unlocks savings, and builds loyalty between stations and commercial drivers. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, with operation hubs in Lehi, Utah and Kolkata, India, Piston is backed by Spark Capital, Pear VC, BOND, and other strategic investors. Learn more at https://www.usepiston.com/.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Nina Pfister, MAG PR at E: nina@mooringadvisorygroup.com; P: 781-929-5620
SOURCE: Piston
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