The Emerging Europe Awards ceremony took place on 22 June in the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) building in central London. 23 Central and Eastern European countries, including states the former Yugoslavia and the former Soviet bloc were nominated for the prizes. The afternoon program was launched by former EU Commissioner Günter Verheugen, followed by a panel discussion with Peter Stracar, President and CEO of GE Europe and Olga Grygier-Siddons, CEO of PWC for Central and Eastern Europe.

Institutions and companies from the CEE countries were rated for excellence in three key areas: raising awareness, social progress and, economic development. Czech software company Avast ranked third in the category "in the Global Market Champion". Avast, the Czech software company, the largest IPO in Europe to date. has over 435 million monthly active users and is recognized as a leader in consumer and mobile security. Every month they protect users from over 2 billion malware attacks and more than 500 million visits to malicious sites, worldwide. The company also listed on the London Stock Exchange in early May 2018. The first place in the category "R & D initiative" was given to Siemens Czech Republic. Siemens Czech Republic will expand and modernise its local branches over the next seven years with investments totalling more than CZK 7 billion (238 mil. GBP). The company will create more than 1,800 jobs, one-third of which are in research and development, management and other functions. The CzechInvest. the Czech Investment Agency and, the City of Ostrava were also nominated.

Emerging Europe is a London-based think tank committed to boosting the social and economic development of twenty-three countries in Central and Eastern Europe and raising awareness about the region.