The British television show Dragons' Den is based on the Japanese reality programme Money Tigers.
Money Tigers established the format in which entrepreneurs present business proposals to wealthy investors and negotiate for funding. The British version retained this central idea while giving the investors the distinctive title “Dragons.”
The format later travelled widely. The best-known international adaptation is Shark Tank in the United States, but Shark Tank is not the original Japanese programme. The two shows share the pitch-and-investment structure, although their panels, broadcasters and production histories are different.
The British series began in 2005 and became one of the BBC’s best-known business-entertainment programmes. Its name refers to the intimidating investor panel rather than to the original title, which used “tigers” as its animal metaphor.