Lijit Networks, a provider of search functions for bloggers, has zeroed in on $7.1 million in its third round of venture financing, the company said Tuesday.

The round for the Boulder, Colorado, firm was dominated by neighboring venture capitalists. The series C financing was led by the Foundry Group, also in Boulder. Prior investors Boulder Ventures and Colorado Fund 1, managed by Boulder-based High Country Venture also took part.

Lijit plans to use the latest cash infusion for additional hiring and to roll out a network that lets online publishers sell their search-advertising inventory. In January, Lijit acquired startup BigSwerve, which indexes online blog comments.

Users install the Lijit search “wijit” to let readers search their blog posts as well as their bookmarks and other web content. Lijit competes against companies like Ziki, which bring together content from dispersed blogging and social network sites.
 
“Publishers leverage Lijit’s services to capture more page views and increase reader engagement,” Chris Wand, Foundry Group managing director, said in a statement. In the last six months, Lijit has “tripled the reach of its network” and “doubled its average publisher size.”

The latest funding follows a $3.3 million round in June 2007 and a $900,000 A round in January of that year. Foundry managing director Brad Feld participated in both of those rounds.