Mitsui has come on board as an investor, in a round that valued the cross-border financial transfer platform at $1.6bn.

UK-based money transfer platform TransferWise has raised $280m in a series E round featuring diversified conglomerate Mitsui & Co that valued it at $1.6bn, TechCrunch reported today.

Asset management firm Old Mutual Global Investors and venture capital firm Institutional Venture Partners co-led the round, which included Sapphire Ventures, World Innovation Lab, Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford and entrepreneur Richard Branson.

TransferWise operates an online platform that enables businesses to make cross-border financial transfers quickly at an affordable rate.

The funding consisted…