The British programme Dragons' Den was adapted from the Japanese television format Money Tigers.
Money Tigers established the central structure used by the British version: entrepreneurs present business proposals to wealthy investors and seek funding in return for an ownership stake. The title refers to the investors, while the British adaptation recast them as dragons, creating a different visual and cultural identity for the same basic pitch format.
The UK programme launched in 2005 and became one of the best-known international versions of the concept. Its success also helped the format travel to other countries, where local broadcasters selected their own presenters, investors and business culture while preserving the pitch-room framework.
The show is sometimes confused with Shark Tank, the American programme that uses a similar adaptation lineage. Shark Tank is not the Japanese source of the British series. Money Tigers is the specific original format credited for Dragons' Den.