ALLEN, Texas, March 1 -- Xtera announced today it has closed a $30 million funding round that will be used to expand the global commercialization of its optical networking transport solutions. The company said it has reduced its Allen, Texas, workforce by 36 people as part of that initiative. Investors include New Enterprise Associates, Sevin Rosen Funds, ComVentures and Star Ventures. Jon R. Hopper has joined Xtera as president and CEO, and Paul Colan has been named CFO. Jon W. Bayless will continue to play a key role as chairman of the company while resuming his duties as a general partner at Sevin Rosen Funds. Hopper was formerly CEO at Extreme Devices Inc., IRSI and Dynamotion, and was previously a senior vice president at Photon Dynamics and a group vice president at Electro Scientific Industries. Colan has worked with Hopper as CFO at IRSI and Extreme Devices and was director of finance at Photon Dynamics. Hopper said, "The telecom market is very active in many parts of the world, and we felt it necessary to reduce our overhead in Texas so we can add operations around the globe, particularly in emerging markets like China and India. The Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa are also targets. This reduction will allow us to add new functions and tap growth opportunities in those markets." Bayless added, "There's never been a better time to launch this initiative, as several countries are jockeying for position in the telecom technology space and no longer waiting for the US to lead the way singlehandedly. Xtera is poised to benefit in the global marketplace from its years of intensive research and development." Xtera supplies optical networking transport technology for regional, long haul and ultralong haul networks.