Xponent Photonics, a maker of surface-mount photonic (SMP) components, recently announced it raised $23 million in funding and that Barbara Grant, a partner with Roseville-based American River Ventures, which led the round, has been named to its board of directors. "This new round of financing will allow us to accelerate the market penetration of surface-mount photonics beyond the FTTx market," said Jeffrey S. Rittichier, Xponent's president and CEO. "Xponent is already sampling low-cost, high-performance optical components to datacom, CATV and consumer markets." Xponent is currently shipping production volumes of FTTx (fiber-to-the-x) components based on its SMP technology, in which light travels through optical building blocks that are connected via "optical wire" instead of traveling through free space among subcomponents, the company said. For more information, visit: www.xponentinc.com