How SDN25 is connecting software brands with the circular economy: an interview with founder Shai Drori

Could you please introduce yourself and give us some background about your personal journey, your career so far, and what led you to establish SDN25? What problem were you trying to solve when you founded the company, and how has your experience shaped the direction of the business?
I’m what you might call an internet veteran—I’ve been working in the space for over 21 years, with a core focus on strategic partnerships, business development, and scaling distribution operations. I didn’t start in this world, though. My early career was in SMB IT Sales, which, at the time, had very little overlap with digital distribution. But over time, I found that my experience in IT combined well with the kind of large-scale thinking needed for business development. That combination really crystallized with SDN25.

The idea for SDN25 came from observing a dual challenge: software brands were struggling with distribution, pouring money into inefficient digital channels that offered little control and high costs; meanwhile, refurbishers were operating on slim margins and looking for meaningful ways to offset the cost of refurbishing devices. The solution seemed obvious to me: create a seamless, scalable software preload platform that integrates directly into the refurbisher’s process, helping both parties’ benefit. That’s where SDN25 was born.

Many in the tech and marketing industries are still unfamiliar with the concept of a software distribution network that focuses on preloads for secondary devices. Can you describe in detail what SDN25 does, and what makes it fundamentally different from traditional software distribution or advertising channels?

The concept of software preloads isn’t new—in fact, in the new device market, it’s been common for OEMs like HP, Lenovo, and Asus to preload software for well over 15 years. But striking deals with those OEMs is extremely expensive for software brands, and the ROI is often more about branding than performance. That’s where I saw the opportunity to bring this tried-and-tested concept to the secondary device market.

What SDN25 does is build a dynamic match between software brands with specific distribution budgets and geographic targets, and refurbishers who can deliver preloads in those exact locations. Our mission is to ensure a constant stream of active software campaigns so that refurbishers always have a reliable way to earn additional revenue per device. Getting a distribution budget isn’t difficult but securing multiple budgets across diverse regions simultaneously—that’s where our real challenge and expertise lie.

You emphasize that software brands can access a ‘rarely tapped, high-quality channel’ through SDN25. Could you elaborate on how you define and ensure ‘high quality’ in this context, and what makes the secondary device market such a valuable yet overlooked opportunity for app distribution?

The quality comes down to one thing: user engagement and cost efficiency. With traditional online advertising, the funnel is long and leaky. A user sees an ad, clicks on it, lands on a download page, then installs the software, at which point there’s often a 50% drop-off rate. And all this costs the software company somewhere between $ 8 and $ 12 per user in English-speaking markets, even before any monetization through subscriptions occurs.

With SDN25, software brands skip the funnel. We only charge when the software is activated and running on the end user’s device. The software is preloaded directly onto refurbished devices, and users engage with it as part of their first experience with the machine. This direct approach is around 50% cheaper for the brands and completely performance based. So, it’s not just a high-quality channel in terms of scale and cost—it's also a smarter one.

What kinds of software companies are currently partnering with SDN25, and what types of software tend to perform best on preloaded refurbished devices? Are there specific verticals, app categories, or geographic regions that seem to benefit more from your approach?

The types of software that perform best are those with broad utility and competitive consumer demand. We’re seeing consistently strong performance from security products (antivirus, VPNs, privacy tools, ad blockers), and browsers—these are evergreen categories with fierce competition, and they’re always looking for optimized channels like ours. There's also growing interest from streaming platforms and system optimizers.

That said, every software product we preload is thoroughly vetted. We never work with apps that hide secondary purposes like ad injection or crypto mining. If a tool claims to clean a hard drive, that’s all it should do. We make it a strict priority to protect our refurbishing partners and their reputations, so we reject any software that doesn’t meet our transparency and ethical standards. For confidentiality reasons, we don’t disclose the names of either our software or refurbishing partners publicly.

You refer to SDN25 as a ‘fully managed preload network.’ Can you break down, step-by-step, what that looks like in practice for a software brand and for a refurbisher? What happens from the moment a deal is signed to the point when a device reaches the consumer?

Once a software brand secures a distribution budget for specific geographic targets, they allocate that budget through SDN25. We then identify refurbishing partners with inventory in those same regions. Because we’ve already built and documented a unique, seamless integration process with each refurbisher, we guide the software brand on how to prepare their software to match these specific workflows. If the brand has any special technical requirements, we step in and adjust on their behalf.

Next, we deliver the software to the refurbisher, who preloads it as part of their standard production process. When the end user opens the refurbished device for the first time, the software activates, triggering performance tracking on our end. We collect data on installs and activations, and once per month, the software brand receives an activation report and is billed accordingly. The refurbisher, in turn, receives a share of that revenue. It’s a clean, closed-loop system.

For refurbishers, a big selling point seems to be the ability to earn additional revenue with minimal effort or disruption. Could you walk us through what the integration process looks like from their side, and how you ensure that it doesn’t interfere with their existing operational flow?

This is where SDN25’s real value lies—we treat every refurbisher as unique. No two production lines are the same. Each uses different imaging software, different procedures, and different timelines. So we never try to force a one-size-fits-all model. Instead, we build a tailor-made solution for each partner, ensuring that our process fits seamlessly into theirs.

This flexibility is critical because we understand how delicate and optimized these production flows can be. If we were to impose even minor inefficiencies, we’d risk losing trust and undermining the model. So we do all the heavy lifting on our end to ensure that our software can be integrated with zero disruption.

SDN25 operates on an activation-based billing model for software brands. How does your own company generate revenue within that structure, and what risks and rewards does this model create for you compared to more traditional pricing systems?

We work on a revenue-sharing model. When software is activated, the brand pays SDN25, and we split that revenue with the refurbisher who distributed it. This model ensures that everyone’s incentives are aligned. The better the software performs, the more everyone earns.

Of course, there are risks. If we don’t deliver enough devices into the targeted geographies, or if activations fall short, then neither SDN25 nor the refurbisher earns anything. But we mitigate that risk by scaling carefully and gradually. We never overcommit, and we track each campaign closely to ensure consistent delivery and performance. The reward, though, is huge—long-term, high-scale budgets from software brands that see the value in a more optimized channel.

Your messaging references a commitment to circular thinking and sustainable growth. In concrete terms, how does SDN25 contribute to the circular economy, and how do you measure or evaluate the environmental and economic value that your model creates for your partners?

We don’t claim to be a direct sustainability actor, but we absolutely see ourselves as a meaningful enabler. By helping refurbishers increase their margins, we support their ability to grow, employ more people, and process more used devices into usable tech. That means less e-waste and more products being reintroduced into the economy.

Our value is indirect but tangible. Every extra dollar a refurbisher earns through SDN25 makes it easier for them to justify their operational costs, which ultimately contributes to sustainability efforts on both an environmental and economic level.

What are the technical prerequisites or onboarding steps for companies—both software brands and circular economy partners—to join the SDN25 ecosystem? Is there any need for deep customization or is your model closer to a plug-and-play solution?

Our aim is to keep things as simple as possible. We go to great lengths to ensure that no deep customization is required—either from the software brands or the refurbishers. We’ve learned that the moment things get too complicated, the model might break down. So, we take responsibility for adapting our systems to theirs, not the other way around.

For software brands, that means minimal development work, usually just packaging their installer in a specific way. For refurbishers, we handle the technical specifics to make sure the integration is practically invisible in their workflow.

You’ve stated your ambition to scale up from thousands of devices per month to approximately 100,000 monthly units by Q3 of 2026. What are the biggest challenges in reaching that scale, and how are you planning to overcome them—whether in terms of supply chain, software demand, or operational capacity?

The demand from software brands is already there. We’re actively bringing more of them onto the platform, and performance is what keeps the budgets flowing. This is a channel that offers better outcomes at lower costs, so it’s getting harder and harder for marketing directors to ignore.

On the refurbisher side, the challenge is different. There are hundreds of refurbishers globally, often producing in one continent and selling in another. They’ve optimized their lines to the point of perfection, so anything new—like our preload solution—needs to be flawlessly integrated. That’s why we always start small, earn trust, and then scale gradually. We don’t force growth; we grow with our partners.

As for SDN25 itself, we’re built for scale. Whether it’s 100 devices per day or 1,000, our systems perform with the same efficiency. And because we monitor every campaign closely, we can respond quickly to any issues.

One concern with preloaded software is that users might perceive it as unwanted or intrusive. How do you select or vet software partners to ensure quality and user relevance, and how do you address the potential reputation risks for both SDN25 and your refurbishing partners?

We’ve been in this space long enough to know who’s trustworthy and who’s not. We conduct a multi-layered vetting process, starting with our own experience and knowledge, followed by rigorous technical testing, in order to minimize the possibility of any unwanted or intrusive software activity. While it is rather challenging to be able to avoid any unwanted activity, SDN25 makes significant efforts to achieve that - according to our policy, if there’s even a minor red flag, like unwanted background activity or deceptive behaviour, we immediately disqualify the software.

We’re also transparent with users. They’re made aware of the preloaded software, and they can uninstall it easily if they choose. We believe this openness is key to building long-term trust with both users and our partners. We’ve turned down large short-term deals because they didn’t align with our standards, and we believe that’s what will allow us to build something enduring.

Transparency and trust are crucial for advertisers. How do you verify app activations and provide performance reports? Can you describe the level of insight that your platform offers to partners?

The final metric we use for billing (activations) is tracked and verified by the software brand. Before a campaign launches, we align on data accuracy, ensuring that SDN25 and the brand’s internal systems have less than 5% discrepancy.

We collect aggregated data on installs and activations where possible and share those metrics with our refurbishers to keep them fully informed. At the end of each month, the brand provides an official activation report, and that becomes the basis for billing and payment.

To close, which types of companies—whether they’re software developers or refurbishers—do you believe are especially well-positioned to benefit from working with SDN25 right now? And why is this moment in the industry such a pivotal time for them to engage with your model?

I was recently on a call with a major security software brand, and they told me something that stuck: they’d been following the secondary market for over two years but couldn’t find a viable way to engage with it—until now. They also told me that in 2024, more PCs were sold in the secondary market than in the new device market.

That says it all. The time is now, not because the moment is uniquely ripe, but because the model finally exists to unlock the opportunity. For now, SDN25 is working exclusively with PC refurbishers who install Windows, as we focus on consumer-facing devices. But I believe the mobile market will soon follow, especially as regulatory and market pressures push for more app diversity beyond the default options provided by giants like Google. When that happens, we’ll be ready.