The international Dragons' Den format originated with the Japanese television programme Money Tigers.
Money Tigers established the central idea later used by Dragons' Den: entrepreneurs pitch businesses to wealthy investors and negotiate for financial backing. The title refers to the investors as powerful “tigers,” while the British adaptation uses “dragons” to convey a similarly formidable panel. The format was created for Nippon Television and became the basis for versions in many countries.
The British programme is therefore not an entirely separate invention, even though its terminology, presentation and panel developed a distinctive local identity. The name Dragons' Den is used in numerous territories, while the United States adaptation is known as Shark Tank. These programmes share the broad investment-pitch structure but have different hosts, investors and production histories.
Money Tigers is also sometimes confused with the English-language versions themselves. It was the Japanese source programme, not the name of the British series or one of its later dragons.