Between Siri on iOS and Google’s rivaling artificial intelligence for Android, voice recognition software has become practically ubiquitous in the consumer world. But corporate applications beyond the call center are still rare.

A new startup called Expect Labs Inc. just closed a $13 million funding round for its quest to change that. Its funding comes from an impressive roster of backers including Intel’s investment arm, IDG Ventures, Telefonica Digital, Liberty Global Ventures, Fenox Ventures, Westcott LLC, and Quest Venture Partners. Expect Labs will use the infusion to add more capabilities to its managed development platform, which allows organizations to create the same kind of custom voice interfaces for their mobile applications that consumers have come to expect from their phones and tablets.

MindMeld, as the service is called, combines advanced machine learning and speech recognition algorithms into an integrated whole that the startup says can not only understand what a user is asking but piece together an appropriate answer based on a variety of information sources. To that end, it taps into into metrics such as profile details and activity history from the app developer as well as contextual details stored locally on the employee’s phone or tablet. The technology is particularly useful in applications in which the users hands are occupies or typing is a chore.

The startup has gained more than 100 corporate customers since launching MindMeld earlier this year. Some clients are leveraging the platform to help consumers discover video content based on specific tidbits such as the name of the leading actor and their role, while others are using it for in-store product purchases. The usefulness of the platform is only set to increase as a result of the new funding, which brings Expect Lab’s total capital raised to $15.5 million.

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