Dragon's Den is based on the Japanese television format Money Tigers.
Money Tigers was the original format in which entrepreneurs pitched business ideas to successful investors. The British adaptation retained the basic premise but replaced the Japanese panel and production setting with a UK version featuring investors known as dragons.
The concept became one of the most widely adapted business-pitch formats in television. Different countries altered the title, panel, language and presentation style, while keeping the central exchange: an entrepreneur asks for a specific investment and offers a proportion of the business in return.
The title can cause confusion because the British programme’s name refers to dragons, whereas the original Japanese format used tigers. The American adaptation, Shark Tank, changed the animal imagery again, but it follows the same broad television lineage.