Techtoberfest, the annual tech conference put on by Communitech, returns Oct. 13 and 14 with events that will connect startups with venture capitalists and feature Oktoberfest trimmings and festivities.

The two-day event is set to draw 250 startups and 40 venture capital investors from across North America to the Waterloo region. The discussions will cover topics such as crowdfunding, Canadian investment, and Q&As with attendees. The attending companies include Miovision, Auvik Networks, Twenty-one Toys, and Plasticity Labs. The investors will include 500 Startups of Silicon Valley. John Dimatos of Kickstarter will lead a breakout session on crowdfunding.

The event kicks off Tuesday with an opening party at Maxwell’s Music House in Waterloo, and the launch of Thomson Reuters Labs at the Communitech Hub.

The conference will continue the next morning at the Tannery Event Center with opening remarks and a session by author, angel investor and CEO of VaynerMedia Gary Vaynerchuk.

At 1 pm, there will be a series of speakers at the Tannery Center, starting with a session on venture capital advice by Vast Ventures partner Nikhil Kalghati. Following Kalghati is a crowdfunding story by Kickstarter success story Twenty-One Toys, and a talk about Canadian investment by traffic data collection solution Miovision Technologies. Finally WattPad will share a story on Series A funding before a panelist Q&A.

The closing keynote address will be given by Business Rockstars Co-Founder Ken Rutkowski before closing remarks and heading to Okberfest festivities at the Communitech Hub.

Tickets for the conference are sold out but there are tickets available to the kickoff party on the 13^th https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/techtoberfest-kick-off-party-tickets-18135462657" target="_blank">here.