Germany’s Union Investment is taking a 13% stake in the Berlin-based property technology company Architrave, forming a strategic partnership to develop an industry-wide real estate data platform.

Alongside the minority investment, the two firms have signed a research agreement about the joint development of one of Architrave’s main products, Artificial Intelligence.

Jens Wilhelm, managing director in charge of real estate, portfolio management and IT infrastructure at Union Investment, said: “The strategic partnership is a core element of our strategy of driving forward the process of digitisation in the real estate industry.”

The investment was Union’s first step into the proptech sector, he said.

Union Investment said both partners agreed that the long-term aim was to set up an industry standard for gathering real estate data in an open, digital platform.

Architrave is the market leader in intelligent real estate data management solutions, Union said.

The asset manager has worked with Architrave since September and has provided its platform with data from more than 400 properties it owns internationally.

The companies made clear that Union Investment’s minority stake in Architrave would not give it access to the Architrave’s asset management data.