BETHESDA, MD—As we reported yesterday, Walker & Dunlop has made an equity investment in a tech start up called Rentlytics. The company launched last year after receiving $4 million in seed money in a round led by Trinity Ventures and Rincon Venture Partners.

The question is, well, why?

To be sure, Walker & Dunlop is noted for its multi-million dollar investments; they are, after all, in large part how the company scaled up so quickly over the years. But these investments have been in traditional capital market lending operations.

But the Rentlytics deal is different -- and not just for W&D but for the commercial real estate industry as a whole. It is little secret that CRE is woefully behind the tech curve. Not only that, but as such advanced technologies as analytics, business intelligence, artificial intelligence and even cognitive computing become staples in other sectors of the finance industry, as well as in the retail and e-commerce sectors, CRE will be even further left behind. Enter Rentlytics, a start up specializing in predictive analytics for the multifamily industry.

A Lender Module of Its Own

Apartments, of course, are in W&D's bailiwick but the platform Rentlytics currently offers is aimed at property managers. W&D would like to see Rentlytics build a product that services the lender community, SVP of Development Aaron Perlis tells GlobeSt.com. "We are working with them on a lender module," he says. This platform will also join Rentlytics suite of products -- meaning other lenders can buy a license too.

Walker & Dunlop Is Not Launching a VC Fund

None of this is to say that W&D is about to launch its own venture capital fund for real estate related tech investments. Perlis took that possibility off the table when speaking with GlobeSt.com. At best, he said, Walker & Dunlop might consider one-off, strategic tech-related investments here and there, if the opportunity is right.

* This article has been edited since its publication to reflect feedback from W&D and Rentlytics.