Startup Giiidget Has Figured Out How Phones Can Use 30X Less Data

Carriers are trying to fix it in all sorts of ways: making their networks faster, spending $53 billion on new 4G technology. buying more wireless airwaves (called spectrum) that can handle ever more smartphone traffic.

They've got it all wrong, according to a new Denver-based startup, Giiidget. Instead of making cell phone networks faster and bigger, carriers needs to make the data smaller, explains cofounder and CEO Megan Haines.

Giiidget has invented a new technology that compresses smartphone data 30:1. In other words, it makes your photos, Facetime chats, texts and apps 30 times smaller than they are today.

It's a smart idea, even though the company's tech is months away from landing on our smartphones. Giiidget is in the process of testing its tech and hopes to lure its first big carrier into a trial. The company is seeking $1.5 million in seed/Series A funds to get started.

It's also got some interesting smartphone apps in the works, but the company isn't out of stealth yet and we promised not to reveal too much about that.

There's some good reasons to believe Giiidget could succeed. Among the company's advisors is a Denver VC with deep roots in the wireless industry: Peter Mannetti. He's the former CEO of US West Wireless, a carrier that was acquired by Qwest.

Giiidget won the "most disruptive startup" award at the Venture Capital in the Rockies conference held this week in Beaver Creek, Colo.