NEW ZEALAND – Sally Tobin, founder of Mars United Commerce, has officially launched AiPX Ventures, an AI-native venture studio designed to support founders at the earliest and most pivotal stages of building their companies.
AiPX focuses on industries still constrained by fragmented and outdated technology stacks—sectors where AI-native platforms can streamline workflows, optimise operations, and accelerate decision making and growth at scale. Unlike a venture capital fund, the studio works hand-in-hand with founders to identify opportunities, design platforms, build MVPs, and take products to market.
Tobin, founder and former Managing Director of Mars United Commerce ANZ (now part of Publicis Groupe), brings over 20 years’ experience spanning commerce marketing and technology product innovation. A repeat founder, she has built and exited multiple businesses with combined enterprise valuations of more than $900 million. At Mars United, she led the expansion into retail media, e-commerce and MarTech, alongside acquisitions that scaled the business across Asia Pacific.
“Every company I’ve built has reinforced the same lesson: the hardest problems aren’t the ideas; they’re the systems that sit behind them. With AiPX, we’re taking what we’ve learned from building and exiting multiple businesses and applying it to support founders who are creating the next generation of AI-native platforms that solve genuine industry bottlenecks,” said Tobin, CEO of AiPX Ventures.
Joining her is Gary Head, former General Manager of Omnichannel at Mars United Commerce and Company Secretary of industry body Shop! ANZ, who has been appointed Chief Product Officer at AiPX Ventures. With 15 years’ experience across advertising and product design, Head led award-winning omnichannel campaigns and spearheaded the global rebrand to Mars United Commerce ahead of its acquisition by Publicis Groupe in 2024.
The duo is reuniting to combine their expertise in product and commerce to drive the studio’s AI-native initiatives. In his role, Head will lead product architecture and platform development across the AiPX portfolio. His new role coincides with his ongoing work with Cart Index AI, a venture he launched last year to close the creative effectiveness gap in retail media.
“It’s incredibly exciting to be back working with Sally to help founders turn ambitious ideas into real, scalable products,” Head added.
AiPX is developing a pipeline of four AI-native platforms centred on workflow systems and integrated partner marketplaces, targeting the Trades and Construction industry (slated for mid-year release) and Marketing Operations.
