Context: Successful startup firms have the ability to create jobs and contribute to economic welfare. A suitable ecosystem developed around startups is important to form and support these firms. In this regard, it is crucial to understand the startup ecosystem, particularly from researchers' and practitioners' perspectives. However, a systematic literature research on the startup ecosystem is limited. Objective: In this study, our objective was to conduct a multi-vocal literature review and rigorously find existing studies on the startup ecosystem in order to organize and analyze them, know the definitions and major elements of this ecosystem, and determine the roles of such elements in startups' product development. Method: We conducted a multi-vocal literature review to analyze relevant articles, which are published technical articles, white papers, and Internet articles that focused on the startup ecosystem. Our search generated 18,310 articles, of which 63 were considered primary candidates focusing on the startup ecosystem. Results: From our analysis of primary articles, we found four definitions of a startup ecosystem. These definitions used common terms, such as stakeholders, supporting organization, infrastructure, network, and region. Out of 63 articles, 34 belonged to the opinion type, with contributions in the form of reports, whereas over 50% had full relevance to the startup ecosystem. We identified eight major elements (finance, demography, market, education, human capital, technology, entrepreneur, and support factors) of a startup ecosystem, which directly or indirectly affected startups. Conclusions: This study aims to provide the state of the art on the startup ecosystem through a multi-vocal literature review. The results indicate that current knowledge on the startup ecosystem is mainly shared by non-peer-reviewed literature, thus signifying the need for more systematic and empirical literature on the topic. Our study also provides some recommendations for future work.

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This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Highlights • Requirements engineering is a key process for startup's product development. • With 36 primary articles and 80 cases, the process is deeply examined.

Industry needs graduates from universities having knowledge and skills to tackle the practical issues of real life software development. To facilitate software engineering students and fulfill industry need, the Department of Information Processing Science, University of Oulu, Finland, built a Software Factory laboratory (SWF) in 2012 based on Lean concept. This study examines factors in the SWF learning environment that affect learning of a SWF course by the students. It employs amended Computer laboratory Environment Inventory (CLEI) and Attitude towards Computers and Computing Courses Questionnaire instrument (ACCC) with two additional constructs: 1) Kanban board 2) Collaborative learning. The general findings indicate that SWF learning environment, collaborative learning and Kanban board play important role in software engineering students learning, academic achievements and professional skills gaining. The findings are helpful to develop a better understanding about learning environments. The information gathered in this study can also be used to improve the software engineering learning environment. Keywords-software engineering education; software factory; computer laboratory learning enviroment; smart classroom collaborative learning; teaching and learning I.

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