Rachel Elnaugh was an original female Dragon who founded the experience-gift company Red Letter Days.
Red Letter Days sold vouchers for experiences such as leisure activities and special treats. Elnaugh built the company in the 1990s and became one of the original investors when the British version of Dragon's Den launched in 2005.
The business later encountered financial difficulties and entered administration, after which parts of the brand were acquired by another company. That later history is important because the company’s well-known early success and its subsequent financial problems are sometimes collapsed into a single simplified story.
Elnaugh is also distinct from Deborah Meaden, who joined the programme later and became one of its most prominent investors. The phrase “original female Dragon” points specifically to the launch-era panel, not simply to any woman who later appeared on the show.