Richard Farleigh made the programme's first investment in a business from outside the United Kingdom.
Farleigh was an investor on Dragons' Den who became known for backing entrepreneurs and companies with international potential. The programme's early pitches generally focused on businesses based in the United Kingdom, so an investment involving a company from outside the country was a notable development in the show's history.
Farleigh's background was in finance and investing rather than in building a single consumer brand. That experience gave him a different perspective from dragons whose reputations came chiefly from retail, leisure or telecommunications. He joined the panel after the opening series and later left the programme.
The wording refers to the location of the business receiving the investment, not the nationality of the entrepreneur or the location of the studio. It is also distinct from the question of which dragon invested the largest amount, since “first international investment” and “largest investment” are separate records.