diff --git a/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/__mocks__/tryLaunchEmulator.ts b/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/__mocks__/tryLaunchEmulator.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..44746ea90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/__mocks__/tryLaunchEmulator.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export default async () => true;
diff --git a/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/__tests__/runOnAllDevices.test.ts b/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/__tests__/runOnAllDevices.test.ts
index daafc407b..830b2c56a 100644
--- a/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/__tests__/runOnAllDevices.test.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/__tests__/runOnAllDevices.test.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ jest.mock('child_process', () => ({
 }));
 
 jest.mock('../getAdbPath');
+jest.mock('../tryLaunchEmulator');
 const {execFileSync} = require('child_process');
 
 describe('--appFolder', () => {
@@ -21,18 +22,17 @@ describe('--appFolder', () => {
     jest.clearAllMocks();
   });
 
-  it('uses task "install[Variant]" as default task', () => {
+  it('uses task "install[Variant]" as default task', async () => {
     // @ts-ignore
-    runOnAllDevices({
+    await runOnAllDevices({
       variant: 'debug',
     });
-
     expect(execFileSync.mock.calls[0][1]).toContain('installDebug');
   });
 
-  it('uses appFolder and default variant', () => {
+  it('uses appFolder and default variant', async () => {
     // @ts-ignore
-    runOnAllDevices({
+    await runOnAllDevices({
       appFolder: 'someApp',
       variant: 'debug',
     });
@@ -40,9 +40,9 @@ describe('--appFolder', () => {
     expect(execFileSync.mock.calls[0][1]).toContain('someApp:installDebug');
   });
 
-  it('uses appFolder and custom variant', () => {
+  it('uses appFolder and custom variant', async () => {
     // @ts-ignore
-    runOnAllDevices({
+    await runOnAllDevices({
       appFolder: 'anotherApp',
       variant: 'staging',
     });
@@ -52,9 +52,9 @@ describe('--appFolder', () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it('uses only task argument', () => {
+  it('uses only task argument', async () => {
     // @ts-ignore
-    runOnAllDevices({
+    await runOnAllDevices({
       tasks: ['someTask'],
       variant: 'debug',
     });
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ describe('--appFolder', () => {
     expect(execFileSync.mock.calls[0][1]).toContain('someTask');
   });
 
-  it('uses appFolder and custom task argument', () => {
+  it('uses appFolder and custom task argument', async () => {
     // @ts-ignore
-    runOnAllDevices({
+    await runOnAllDevices({
       appFolder: 'anotherApp',
       tasks: ['someTask'],
       variant: 'debug',
@@ -73,9 +73,9 @@ describe('--appFolder', () => {
     expect(execFileSync.mock.calls[0][1]).toContain('anotherApp:someTask');
   });
 
-  it('uses multiple tasks', () => {
+  it('uses multiple tasks', async () => {
     // @ts-ignore
-    runOnAllDevices({
+    await runOnAllDevices({
       appFolder: 'app',
       tasks: ['clean', 'someTask'],
     });
diff --git a/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/index.ts b/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/index.ts
index 373e582c7..a9fa9db00 100644
--- a/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/index.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/index.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
  * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
  *
  */
-
 import path from 'path';
 import execa from 'execa';
 import chalk from 'chalk';
@@ -135,7 +134,6 @@ function buildAndRun(args: Flags) {
     args.appIdSuffix,
     packageName,
   );
-
   const adbPath = getAdbPath();
   if (args.deviceId) {
     return runOnSpecificDevice(
diff --git a/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/runOnAllDevices.ts b/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/runOnAllDevices.ts
index a36c0f408..e9779d7ba 100644
--- a/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/runOnAllDevices.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/runOnAllDevices.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {logger, CLIError} from '@react-native-community/cli-tools';
 import adb from './adb';
 import tryRunAdbReverse from './tryRunAdbReverse';
 import tryLaunchAppOnDevice from './tryLaunchAppOnDevice';
+import tryLaunchEmulator from './tryLaunchEmulator';
 import {Flags} from '.';
 
 function getTaskNames(
@@ -27,13 +28,30 @@ function toPascalCase(value: string) {
   return value[0].toUpperCase() + value.slice(1);
 }
 
-function runOnAllDevices(
+async function runOnAllDevices(
   args: Flags,
   cmd: string,
   packageNameWithSuffix: string,
   packageName: string,
   adbPath: string,
 ) {
+  let devices = adb.getDevices(adbPath);
+  if (devices.length === 0) {
+    logger.info('Launching emulator...');
+    const result = await tryLaunchEmulator(adbPath);
+    if (result.success) {
+      logger.info('Successfully launched emulator.');
+      devices = adb.getDevices(adbPath);
+    } else {
+      logger.error(
+        `Failed to launch emulator. Reason: ${chalk.dim(result.error || '')}.`,
+      );
+      logger.warn(
+        'Please launch an emulator manually or connect a device. Otherwise app may fail to launch.',
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
   try {
     const tasks = args.tasks || ['install' + toPascalCase(args.variant)];
     const gradleArgs = getTaskNames(args.appFolder, tasks);
@@ -51,7 +69,6 @@ function runOnAllDevices(
   } catch (error) {
     throw createInstallError(error);
   }
-  const devices = adb.getDevices(adbPath);
 
   (devices.length > 0 ? devices : [undefined]).forEach(
     (device: string | void) => {
diff --git a/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/tryLaunchEmulator.ts b/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/tryLaunchEmulator.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9bdcf504c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/platform-android/src/commands/runAndroid/tryLaunchEmulator.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+import execa from 'execa';
+import Adb from './adb';
+
+const emulatorCommand = process.env.ANDROID_HOME
+  ? `${process.env.ANDROID_HOME}/emulator/emulator`
+  : 'emulator';
+
+const getEmulators = () => {
+  try {
+    const emulatorsOutput = execa.sync(emulatorCommand, ['-list-avds']).stdout;
+    return emulatorsOutput.split('\n').filter(name => name !== '');
+  } catch {
+    return [];
+  }
+};
+
+const launchEmulator = async (emulatorName: string, adbPath: string) => {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const cp = execa(emulatorCommand, [`@${emulatorName}`], {
+      detached: true,
+      stdio: 'ignore',
+    });
+    cp.unref();
+    const timeout = 30;
+
+    // Reject command after timeout
+    const rejectTimeout = setTimeout(() => {
+      cleanup();
+      reject(`Could not start emulator within ${timeout} seconds.`);
+    }, timeout * 1000);
+
+    const bootCheckInterval = setInterval(() => {
+      if (Adb.getDevices(adbPath).length > 0) {
+        cleanup();
+        resolve();
+      }
+    }, 1000);
+
+    const cleanup = () => {
+      clearTimeout(rejectTimeout);
+      clearInterval(bootCheckInterval);
+    };
+
+    cp.on('exit', () => {
+      cleanup();
+      reject('Emulator exited before boot.');
+    });
+
+    cp.on('error', error => {
+      cleanup();
+      reject(error.message);
+    });
+  });
+};
+
+export default async function tryLaunchEmulator(
+  adbPath: string,
+): Promise<{success: boolean; error?: string}> {
+  const emulators = getEmulators();
+  if (emulators.length > 0) {
+    try {
+      await launchEmulator(emulators[0], adbPath);
+      return {success: true};
+    } catch (error) {
+      return {success: false, error};
+    }
+  }
+  return {
+    success: false,
+    error: 'No emulators found as an output of `emulator -list-avds`',
+  };
+}