Coast raises $92 million in new capital, partners with Visa to expand financial tools and software for modern business fleets
For the nearly one million American businesses that collectively operate around 40 million vehicles in their commercial fleets – including field service businesses like HVAC, plumbing, landscaping, pest control, construction, government fleets and long-haul trucking – managing expenses in the field is a major challenge. Over the decades, a handful of now very large incumbent payment solutions have emerged to serve fleet-operating companies' needs with fuel cards, to allow fleet managers to set field-specific controls, like restricting purchases to only fuel products, or tracking expenses on a per-vehicle basis. The fleet fuel payments on these specialized cards add up to a staggering
Coast, led by founder and CEO
Coast's software gives fleet managers powerful policies and controls that they can tailor to the on-the-job needs of different employees and vehicles in their fleets. It uses real-time information that employee drivers provide through their phones, as well as data from the onboard computers of company vehicles, to authorize or flag transactions. For example, the fleet manager of a commercial construction HVAC company could receive an alert if a driver purchased unleaded gas when driving a company diesel vehicle, indicating potential abuse; automatically block a transaction when the attempted purchase is far from the current GPS location of the vehicle; or pre-approve a one-time extra purchase of on-the-road supplies at Home Depot with a simple, automated SMS workflow.
"We've been amazed by the pace of execution of Coast's business since we first invested in the company at its founding, as well as by the scope and consistency of Daniel's vision for financial tools for fleet operating industries," BoxGroup Partner
The market has greeted Coast's offering with enthusiasm. The company has grown its business more than fivefold in 2023, and it now serves thousands of businesses, some with just a handful of fleet cards and others with over 1,000. Surveyed customers saved an average of 9-10% on their fuel bill and 16 hours of monthly administrative work when switching to Coast from another fuel card or payment method.
Coast software controls have been so effective in reducing abuse and waste that the company recently rolled out a first-of-its-kind security guarantee, promising to cover any losses for fuel theft up to
To add to their momentum, Coast has inked partnerships with fuel brands such as 7-Eleven Fleet (including Speedway), Casey's, RaceTrac, and EG America brands (including
Coast also announced that it had entered into a relationship with
"Coast has been an innovative leader in fleet payments, and
Coast cards are issued by
With the new funding, the Coast team will focus on product development, adding new integration partners as well as supporting businesses expenses beyond fuel. The raise will also accelerate Coast's go-to-market capability, including the establishment of a second site in
"Coast is the financial platform for the future of transportation and the trades," Simon said. "We are building a holistic expense management and finance platform for fleet-operating businesses. We're now well-positioned to expand our product and get it in the hands of more fleet operators and drivers."
Avid Ventures Founder and Managing Partner
"Since initially partnering with Daniel and Coast over three years ago, our conviction in the team's vision and execution capabilities has only deepened," Lerner said. "This recent investment makes Coast one of the largest positions in Avid's first fund, reflecting our excitement in Coast's trajectory towards reshaping the industry. The team and market opportunity, combined with the company's best-in-class unit economics, rapidly evolving product suite, and growing traction with larger fleets reinforce our confidence."
"Coast provides a strong financial product backed by powerful software for fleet-operating businesses, which allows it to attract very high-quality companies as customers," Foley said. "SVB is excited to continue to provide the debt capital to help them serve these businesses for the long term."
About Coast
Coast is re-imagining the trillion-dollar US B2B card payments infrastructure, with a focus on the country's 500,000 commercial fleets, 40 million commercial vehicles, and many million commercial drivers. Drivers, fleets, and the merchants that serve them all increasingly demand modern digital payments experiences and affordable and transparent financial services products. Coast's mission is to deliver them at a transformational scale and to improve working lives in one of the country's biggest industry sectors. Coast is founded and led by
About BoxGroup
BoxGroup is an early-stage venture capital firm based in NYC and SF. BoxGroup backs entrepreneurs building disruptive technology companies and with visions to create the next generation of category defining businesses. BoxGroup's portfolio across seven funds includes early investments in
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SOURCE Coast