The British TV series Dragon's Den adapted its format from the Japanese business programme Money Tigers.
Money Tigers established the central premise later used by Dragon's Den: entrepreneurs present business ideas to wealthy investors and seek funding in return for a share of their company. The Japanese format was subsequently adapted in several countries, including the United Kingdom.
The British version is therefore not the original programme, although it developed its own panel, presenter history and production style. A common mix-up is to identify Shark Tank as the source; Shark Tank is the American adaptation of the same broad investment-pitch concept, not the Japanese programme that directly provided the British format.
Dragon's Den launched in the United Kingdom in 2005 and became one of the BBC's best-known factual-entertainment formats. Its title refers to the investors as “dragons”, while the American version uses “sharks” for the same role.