Dragon's Den is adapted from a business-investment television format that originated in Japan.
The British programme is based on Money Tigers, known in Japan as Money no Tora. That format introduced the central idea of entrepreneurs presenting business plans directly to wealthy investors and seeking capital in return for a share of their company. The BBC adapted the concept for British audiences while retaining the confrontational questioning and negotiation.
The investors are called dragons in the British version, while other countries use different names. For example, the United States version is known as Shark Tank, with investors called sharks. These programmes share a format lineage, but Shark Tank is not the source country of Dragon's Den.
The Japanese origin is an important distinction because the show’s title, panel structure and presentation style were later adapted internationally. The British programme therefore belongs to a wider family of television formats rather than being an entirely independent BBC invention.