Julie McDowell

Julie McDowell, Angel investor in Toronto is an active investor based in Toronto, Ontario. This profile covers what Julie McDowell backs, at which stage, and how founders can reach out in 2026.

Ms. Julie McDowell is the Founder & serves as President at TARIS. She serves as Chairperson at Magnusmode. She previously served as the Chief Executive Officer at Millenitex Inc. She served as an Advisor at LegWorks. She has a long and diverse entrepreneurial career which began when she was a graduate student at Cornell University researching the impact of textile trade policy on small and medium-sized businesses in North America. In 1989, she and her business partner, Pam Bovey Armstrong, founded a successful promotional merchandise and uniform business with operations in Canada and the US, which they grew and then sold in 1999. In 2007, she founded TARIS and since then has worked as an advisor to philanthropic foundations and not-for-profit organizations, and as a venture advisor, board member, and investor in diverse fields including services for people with disabilities, early childhood education, and sanitation in low-income urban settings. Throughout her career, she has held several leadership positions including Member of the Investment Committee and Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Grand Challenges Canada, Member of the USAID Saving Lives at Birth Investment Panel, Chair of the Canadian Abilities Foundation, and Member of the Standing Selection Committee for the Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada. She holds a Master of Science in Human Ecology from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.