Biography

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After graduating from TED Ankara College Foundation Private High School in 1999, Tolga Onuk studied Statistics and Computer Science at Başkent University. During his college years, Tolga was the team captain of “Başkent KNIGHTS,” one of the first teams in the Turkish National Football League. He was also a co-founding member of the Turkish Amateur American Football League, which was officially recognized by the Turkish Ministry of Sports in 2006.

Tolga began his professional career in digital technologies at CE Technology, where he worked primarily on government software development projects and websites. He later moved to San Diego to pursue a post-graduate diploma in Interactive Media Design & Animation while also playing college football at Palomar College as one of the first Turkish athletes in the program.

In 2007, Tolga was recruited by Spin Master in Los Angeles. As one of the studio’s earliest creative hires, he led digital design initiatives and co-designed “Tech Deck Live,” one of the first browser-based 3D MMO games. After four years at Spin Master, Tolga went on to design and direct the development of dozens of digital applications, games, and marketing campaigns for brands including Ford, Google, Spotify, MTV, Warner Records, Disney, and Marriott Hotels while leading interactive teams at Sabertooth Interactive and HYFN. His Ford Mustang campaigns earned Yahoo’s “Digital Advertisement of the Year 2011” recognition. Tolga later joined Electronic Arts, where he led global user acquisition initiatives and developed promotional campaigns for franchises including Battlefield™, The Sims™, NBA Live™, Need for Speed™, Real Racing™, FIFA Soccer™, Madden NFL™, Tetris™, and The Simpsons: Tapped Out™. He also designed the consumer-facing brand identity for EA Mobile in 2012.

In 2013, Tolga co-founded Curbstand, where he designed the company’s brand and cross-device payments platform, creating one of the first SaaS solutions for valet and parking operators. Shortly after launching on the App Store, the startup secured $1.1 million in early-stage funding. During this period, Tolga also established Thunderbolt Studios. Curbstand later expanded into eight major U.S. cities, parked more than one million vehicles by 2016, and raised a total of $6.9 million from angel investors and venture capital firms.

In 2014, Tolga became Chief Product Officer of Grassp, California’s first legally approved cannabis on-demand delivery startup. Through Thunderbolt Studios, he led the development of an extensive cross-device SaaS platform. Similar to Curbstand, Grassp secured $1.5 million in funding shortly after the beta launch. Today, both Curbstand and Grassp continue operations as private companies based in Southern California.

As a product design and development company, Thunderbolt Studios worked with more than 40 startups, building MVP applications and contributing to over $8.5 million in combined seed funding. The company also developed web and mobile applications for brands including Beats by Dre, Verizon Wireless, and Alaska Airlines. In 2015, Tolga received three Best of Industry awards from Interactive Advertising Competition for digital campaigns created for FOX Sports, while Thunderbolt Studios was recognized by Clutch as an industry leader.

In 2018, Tolga launched Thunderbolt CDG, an equity crowdfunding platform focused on digital startups. The company was later acquired by New Wave Holdings (formerly New Wave Esports). Following the acquisition, Tolga was appointed Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, where he led Thunderbolt CDG’s expansion into esports and technology investments. Under his leadership, New Wave completed a reverse merger and became publicly traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange in 2019.

After a 15-year break from the sport, Tolga returned to semi-professional gridiron football during the 2022–2023 season with the Beach City Giants and became the first Turkish-American football player to win a U.S. semi-professional national championship (3AAFNT Sunshine Bowl). Between 2018 and 2023, he officially represented the Turkish National American Football Federation in the United States and continues supporting the growth of American football in Türkiye.

Currently, Tolga is an early investor in several publicly traded companies, including Humanoid Global Holdings, and is focused on sustainable energy and e-mobility initiatives. The most recent product he delivered through a joint project at Envoy Technologies was acquired in April 2023 by Blink Charging for $34 million. In his previous role at Loop Global, Tolga led product and marketing operations that contributed to the company securing a $65 million Series A investment led by prominent investors including Fifth Wall.

Tolga lives in Crestline, California.