A group of people who helped build Siri have managed to raise $12.5 million for its new startup, Viv Labs, which hopes to create a new digital assistance that’s much like Siri except that it will be able to teach itself. While the startup didn’t actually need the new capital but was very interested in working with Iconiq Capital which led the funding round and is a very influential group in Silicon Valley. 

Viv Labs, a startup launched by a team that helped build Siri, just pulled in $12.5 million to finance a digital assistant that is able to teach itself. TechCrunch first reported that Viv Labs has closed a Series B round led by Iconiq Capital that pushes the company’s valuation to “north of nine figures.” A spokesperson for the company confirmed the investment to Mashable but declined to comment further. According to TechCrunch, the company was not in need of new capital but was interested in the possibility of working with Iconiq, which Forbes has described as an “exclusive members-only Silicon Valley billionaires club.” Together with a previous $10 million Series A round, the company has now raised a total of $22.5 million.