Rachel Elnaugh became the first female Dragon when the British TV show Dragon's Den launched.
Elnaugh was an entrepreneur best known for founding Red Letter Days, a gift-experience business. Her role on the original panel helped establish the programme's investor lineup and gave the launch series a female business perspective alongside its male Dragons.
She remained a Dragon for the first two series. Her time on the programme was followed by the arrival of other prominent female investors, including Deborah Meaden, who later became one of the show's longest-serving and most recognisable panelists.
A frequent mistake is to answer Deborah Meaden because she is the best-known female Dragon to many viewers. Meaden did not join at launch; Elnaugh held the distinction of being the original female investor on the UK version.