Coast Raises $35 Million for AI Fleet Expense Tools
Fleet operators can expect new automated payment features as the fintech startup scales its software platform.
Updated on Oct. 22, 2026 in Startups
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Fintech company Coast has raised $35 million in a growth capital round led by Thomvest Ventures. The firm intends to use the funding to scale its customer base and develop new AI-driven expense automation and accounts payable products.
Why it matters
The investment underscores the ongoing effort by financial technology firms to digitize and automate manual expense management for field-based businesses. By integrating telematics and vehicle data, the platform aims to reduce reconciliation friction for fleet operators.
Coast secured $35 million in growth capital led by Thomvest Ventures, which first invested in the company in 2024. The round included participation from several new and returning venture capital firms.
The players
Coast
A financial technology startup that provides expense management and fleet payment software for field-based businesses.
Thomvest Ventures
A venture capital firm that focuses on the financial services, cybersecurity, and cloud computing sectors.
Samsara
A provider of cloud-based fleet management and IoT hardware used for real-time vehicle and equipment tracking.
Fleetio
A fleet management software company that offers tools for tracking vehicle maintenance and asset utilization.
The details
Coast provides a platform that integrates telematics, vehicle location, and driver identification data to enable automated purchase reconciliation. Through partnerships with providers like Samsara and Fleetio, the software allows fleet managers to monitor card usage and driver activity within a single dashboard. The new capital will support the development of AI-enabled bill payment tools and deeper expense automation for field operations.
Timeline
2024: Thomvest Ventures made its initial investment in the company.
October 22, 2026: Coast officially announced the completion of the $35 million growth round.
Market Landscape
This funding round tracks with the broader industry shift toward modernizing expense management for field operations. It highlights how specialized financial technology platforms are increasingly integrating with legacy telematics data to capture market share in fleet finance.
Operators currently relying on manual expense reconciliation for field fleets should monitor how AI-enabled tools simplify back-office bill payment. Expect increasing competition among financial providers to offer embedded, automated data integration as a standard feature for business cards.
The takeaway
The move signals that expense automation is becoming a critical competitive layer in fleet management. Operators should evaluate whether their current expense tools offer deep integration with their existing telematics hardware to minimize administrative overhead.
Further reading
For more on industry funding trends, visit the Startups section.
Live Poll
Do you believe specialized financial platforms effectively help field-based businesses manage their expenses?
