Since I started covering Canada’s technology sector, a common theme has been the lack of start-up capital – something that has continued to be a source of frustration for many people despite all the attention it has attracted.

For all the talk about the New Economy, it has been a major disappointment to see smart entrepreneurs with good ideas not able to even get modest amounts of capital to develop them into products. Meanwhile, we look to the U.S. where YCombinator and TechStars are providing seed capital to a variety of cool start-ups.

There are, however, signs the Canadian start-up financing market could be emerging with the launch of Mantella Ventures, a $20 million investment fund that will support early stage technology ventures.

Mantella joins two other high-profile start-up investors, Rogers Ventures and Extreme Venture Partners, in what it is hopefully the start of more news for the start-up landscape, which is oozing in enthusiasm but lacking in dough, ray, me.

Robin Axon, who will manage Mantella along with Duncan Hill, said money for start-ups is materializing but, as important, these investors who want to be hands-on and involved in day-to-day operations rather than being passive investors.

“Toronto had a big venture community but it’s been fairly passive and we haven’t done a good job of building an ecosystem,” Axon said. “Now, it very supportive, hands-on. We need hands-on people with tons of advisers and angels involved in our deals.”

Hill added that the emergence of start-up investors is a “grassroots” development. “People recognize the need fore the ecosystem,” he said, adding that deal with Mantella happened after three months of discussions with Robert Mantella, president and CEO with Mantella Corp., a privately-owned commercial builder in Toronto.

Axon said the fund will finance 10 to 15 companies, and focus on mobile and Internet technology. “We are really looking for talent and great entrepreneurs we can build thing around. We are looking at people and companies who have the capital efficient mindset. I want to use very little capital to prove a heck of a lot to build a business one brick at a time.”

Mantella will be the financing entity was Hill and Axon will operate within Basecamp Labs, a start-up accelerator with two investments, Chango and Pushlife.

For more, check out Startup North.