Piston raises $15M to expand cardless fuel payments network

“Commercial fuel still runs on payment technology built for another era,” said Vikram Sekhon, Piston’s co-founder and CEO. “Fleet fuel fraud is a physical card problem, disguised as a detection issue.”

The company is also adding AI tools to the platform as it looks to give fleets more control over fuel transactions and the data generated by them, according to Piston. 

The first product, called Piston Guard, evaluates each transaction for anomalies and can flag or block suspected fraudulent spending before the transaction is completed, according to the company. A second product, the Piston Analytics Agent, is designed to help fleet operators analyze their spending data and identify patterns without having to manually sort through the information.

The AI products build on Piston’s focus on real-time transaction controls, giving fleets tools to identify potentially fraudulent purchases as well as analyze spending after transactions occur.

Piston was founded by Sekhon and co-founder Shivam Shah, who previously operated trucking fleets. Sekhon previously told FreightWaves that he operated between 120 and 250 trucks and that fuel was his fleet’s second-largest expense after payroll. He said the fleet had dealt with fraud, unpredictable fees and the administrative work involved in reconciling fuel transactions.

That experience helped shape Piston’s approach to fuel payments. In 2025, the company said drivers used a smartphone and a dynamic QR code to authorize fuel purchases, with transactions tied to details including the vehicle, time, location and fuel type.

Piston has considerably expanded since its previous funding round. In June 2025, the company raised $7.5 million in total funding and said it served more than 120 fleets across 800 fuel stations, with more than $20 million in annualized transaction volume.

Piston will use the new funding to accelerate the expansion of its payments network, advance product development and add senior leaders across the company. It aims to establish coverage across every U.S. region over the next 18 months. The company also plans to eventually move beyond fuel payments into broader logistics payments infrastructure. The company did not provide additional details about which areas of logistics payments it plans to target.

Why this matters: 

Fuel is a major operating expense for trucking fleets, making payment controls and fraud prevention important parts of fleet management. Piston is positioning its cardless system as an alternative to traditional fuel cards while expanding its network and adding tools that give fleets more control over fuel transactions and spending data.