• March 17, 2009

Text link platform Apture has secured $4.1 million in first-round funding from Clearstone Venture Partners.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based company's technology lets Web publishers and bloggers embed links that open windows containing related videos, images and articles without requiring users to leave the original page.

The Apture links, which connect to more than 25 information sources, have been used by publishers including The Washington Post, The New York Times, the BBC and Reuters.

Apture angel investors Beau Vrolyk, formerly managing director at Warburg Pincus; VMWare CEO Paul Maritz, and Steve Taylor, formerly executive vice president of the Boston Globe, also participated in the financing. In connection with the funding, David Stern and Sumant Mandal, both of Clearstone Venture Partners, will join Apture's board of directors.--Mark Walsh