Edward Metz, Ph.D. directed the U.S. Department of Education's SBIR program for 20 years — a seed fund that launched 100+ EdTech products used by 130M+ students. Ed founded and produced the ED Games Expo (2013–2023), the government's largest event showcasing game-changing education innovations, and is now a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University's Teachers College. 

During his career leading SBIR, Ed saw two persistent challenges firsthand: developers struggle to access schools for research, and schools struggle to find evidence to guide purchasing decisions. App Club was founded to solve both.