Tolga is probably busy.

After graduating from TED Ankara College Foundation Private High-School, Tolga studied Statistics and Computer Science at Baskent University, where he competed as the team captain of “Baskent KNIGHTS” – one of the first Turkish National Football League teams. Tolga was the team representative and co-founding member of the Turkish American Football Federation which was adopted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Turkish Republic. After graduating with double majors on science, Tolga worked at CE Technology in Ankara and started his professional career in digital technologies. In 2005, Tolga moved to San Diego to receive his post-graduate education on Interactive Design & 3D Animation and to continue playing football in California.

Tolga worked for Spin Master in Los Angeles for 4 years where he co-designed “Tech Deck Live”, one of the first 3D web-based MMO games. After his Spin Master experience, Tolga designed digital applications, games, and marketing campaigns for brands like Ford,  Google, Spotify, MTV™, Cinemax, Warner Records, Disney, and Marriott Hotels while leading development teams at the Los Angeles-based Interactive Agencies,  Sabertooth and HYFN. Later on, Tolga Onuk led the global user acquisitions initiative at Electronic Arts Mobile where he designed and directed the promotional campaigns of the majority of the EA Mobile game titles including Battlefield™, Sims™, NBA Live™, Need For Speed™, Real Racing™, Fifa Soccer™, Madden NFL™, Tetris™ and Simpson’s Tapped Out™. Tolga Onuk also designed the EA™ Mobile consumer-facing brand in 2012.

In 2013, Tolga co-founded “Curbstand” in a partnership with the Nclusive Venture Studio in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Tolga designed  Curbstand’s web & mobile payment platform which became the first SaaS solution specifically built for valet & parking companies. Curbstand received $1.1M private foreign investment after its MVP launch. Immediately afterwards, Tolga opened Thunderbolt Studios in Beverly Hills. In 2014, Thunderbolt acquired another partnership with California’s first legal Cannabis delivery startup “Grassp”. Thunderbolt built Grassp’s web & mobile communications platform while Tolga was leading Grassp’s product and marketing initiatives. Similar to Curbstand, Grassp received $1.5M angel investment shortly after its MVP launch.

Thunderbolt worked with 40+ startups, built 12 MVP applications and the company helped to raise $8.5M combined seed investments for various early-stage technology ventures. Thunderbolt also built web & mobile applications for global brands like Beats By Dre, Verizon Wireless, and Alaska Airlines. As a leading digital  product development company, Thunderbolt hosted several technology events in the Greater Los Angeles area.

In 2018, Thunderbolt reincorporated as Thunderbolt Creative Digital Gaming Inc. and the company acquired by the Toronto-based New Wave Esports Corporation (Formerly Known as New Wave Holdings). After the acquisition of Thunderbolt, Tolga Onuk appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of New Wave Holdings. As one of New Wave’s founding team members, Tolga Onuk kickstarted the venture and the company made multiple investments into various early-stage startups. Under Tolga’s leadership New Wave started the reverse merger process in order to become the world’s first publicly traded eSports investment company to be listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE: NWES). 

Currently, Tolga is a private investor of New Wave Esports Corp. and he is an advisor to early-stage startups in the US and Asia.

Tolga Onuk resides in West Hollywood, California.