2011 was a good year for Portland start-ups and great year for alto client 4-Tell.  4-Tell recently closed a Series A financing (details were not disclosed).  As we’ve said before, one of the best things about working in a firm like alto is the opportunity to work with our clients from formation all the way through a major event.  4-Tell is one of those clients.  Founders Ken Levy and Neil Lofgren have leveraged their experience and expertise to build a promising company on a great idea: help customers boost online sales.

Alto client, Small Society, LLC, and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. today announced Wal-Mart’s acquisition of Small Society’s assets, including all related intellectual property and technology. Based in Portland, Oregon, Small Society has been at the forefront of application development for mobile devices, producing apps for many big name clients. Small Society was founded three years ago and has been well-respected within the industry. Financial details were not disclosed. For more information, please click here.

Congratulations to alto client AthletePath on its recent Series A financing.  The Series A financing is another milestone in a fantastic year for AthletePath, who in September was selected as a start-up in Wieden+Kennedy's Portland Incubator Experiment.  Founded in 2006 by David Embree, AthletePath is a Web-based service providing event data aggregation, personalized stats for amateur athletes and promotional tools for event directors, and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.  Financial details were not disclosed.

The Portland Seed Fund, a local seed fund designed to stimulate exceptional entrepreneurial growth in the Portland metro area and throughout Oregon, today unveiled the first eight Portland-area startups in its portfolio, all of which received an initial investment of at least $25,000.  alto clients 4-TELL and Vizify were among those startups.  The Portland Seed Fund was born a year ago from Portland Mayor Sam Adams’ commitment to fuel it with $500,000 from the Portland Development Commission.  For more information, click here.

In May, alto helped ShopIgniter close an $8 million Series B funding from new venture capital investor Trinity Ventures and existing investor Madrona Venture Group.  Founded in 2009, ShopIgniter is a rapidly growing provider of innovative social eCommerce software, and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.  ShopIgniter helps leading brands and retailers activate their social network to extend their reach and generate revenue through social eCommerce efforts.  Click here for more information.