The app’s origins stem from printing for university students, when Ruslan Khazarchiev and Philip Balkanski came up with a way to offer students free printing by incorporating advertising messages on the printed materials.

Chief business development officer and co-founder Susie Clements, who has a background in international TV and media, joined to help the business scale up.

She said the Printt app had been designed to allow people to “print from an app and do it easily”.

It is used by more than 170,000 students across the UK.

“We had brokered deals with the Post Office, Timpson and Booker and were due to roll out kiosks for testing, but have had to hold fire,” she explained.

Printt had also agreed a ‘click and collect’ printing deal with Ryman.

As a result of the coronavirus crisis the firm has been “working around the clock” on the app’s Printt Delivery option, and said it was “a natural step” to adapt its offering to the situation presented by the virus.

Printt is targeting people currently working from home or schooling children at home, and who may struggle with inadequate or expensive home printers, or no access to a printer at all. 

“There’s a business continuity aspect because we can help people securely access printed materials when working from home, and also for those home schooling who need things like activity sheets,” Clements added.

Printt Delivery provides a secure print solution delivered via DPD and DHL for next delivery. Documents are uploaded via the app, with A4 pages charged at 10p per page for mono and 25p per page for colour.

Clements said some users of the app were using it to send documents to other people “a bit like an automated Post Office”.

Printt is currently working with Cambridgeshire print supplier B&H on the fulfilment of Printt Delivery, but Clements said the business would also be interested in setting up a wider print network of suitably accredited printers both nationally and internationally.

“Any printing factory can tap into this and fulfil orders locally,” she added.

The firm’s other partners include Xeretec and Premier Paper.