WASHINGTON, DC—In a way it seems obvious that it would be acrowdfunding company that would be among the first to incorporatethe use of drones in its financial due diligence: A company basedon a relatively new tech-based business model adopting tapping intoa newer form of technology to further its mission. The storylinealmost writes itself.

But as Ben Miller, co-founder ofFundrise tells it, his interest in drones cameabout because a friend, who had established his own companyoffering drones as a service, wanted to see if they could innovatein the real estate space. Miller agreed to a trial run -- and wasastounded by the result.

"I didn't realize how much they could do," he tellsGlobeSt.com. "The images they produce are a combination ofreal-time Google satellite and Street View. It gives you a muchbetter sense of a property and the submarket when you survey itusing a drone."