A British on-demand laundry app has set its sights on international horizons, with the goal of being up and running in 15 countries by the end of the year.

Laundrapp, an app that lets users have their washing picked up, cleaned and dropped off, will license its logistics technology to major laundry franchises in countries including China and Mexico.

The market for laundrettes differs around the world, with other countries having large franchises as opposed to the independent high street services in the UK. Laundrapp will license its technology to these major companies as part of its bid to expand internationally.

"There are enormous chains, which will allow us to grow around the world really quickly," said Edward Relf, chief executive of Laundrapp. "For example, in China the companies we're talking to have around 6,000 stores in their franchise."

The company, which launched in 2014 and isn't yet profitable, will use some of the £9m it has raised to date (more than $11 million) to support the expansion. It has already launched its services in Australia and New Zealand, and will expand to 13 more countries before the close of 2017.

In the UK, Laundrapp's service is available in 100 towns and cities. It has been downloaded around 250,000 times and the majority of its users are based in London.

“The big opportunity here is changing consumer habit and behavior over domestic cleaning and laundry,” said Relf. “It's a very old and traditional industry in the way it operates and outsourcing of laundry is yet to really happen in the UK. But it will happen, especially with digital services like Laundrapp bringing it to the consumers’ homes.”

Current Laundrapp users include young graduates who "use their mobile phones like remote controls for their lives", parents with young children, and city workers with disposable income but little time.

The app works in a similar way to sharing economy services Deliveroo and Uber. But its 200 drivers are employees of Laundrapp, rather self-employed. Deliveroo and Uber have faced backlash about their business models, with the former's food delivery cyclists on Tuesday threatening strike action in Brighton if it doesn't offer better terms within the next two weeks.

There are 3,332 laundrettes and dry cleaners in the UK, according to research firm Ibis World.