The British television show Dragon’s Den is based on the Japanese format Money Tigers.
Money Tigers was created for Nippon Television and established the central structure used by later international versions: entrepreneurs pitch businesses to several wealthy investors, request a specific amount of money, and offer equity or another financial arrangement in return.
The British title changed the animal imagery from tigers to dragons, but the dramatic negotiation format remained recognizable. The investors can question the entrepreneur, make competing offers, combine their money, or decline to invest.
The format has been adapted in many countries. In the United States, the closely related version is Shark Tank. Because the titles and investor names vary internationally, viewers sometimes assume that Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank are unrelated shows; they are instead adaptations of the same Japanese television concept.