Which entrepreneur was the first female Dragon to appear on the UK series Dragon's Den?

Rachel Elnaugh was the first female Dragon to appear on the UK series Dragon's Den.

Elnaugh joined the original investor panel when the British programme began in 2005. She was known as the founder of Red Letter Days, a company selling experience gifts, and brought experience in consumer-focused entrepreneurship to the panel.

Deborah Meaden is another prominent female Dragon, but she joined the programme later, in the third series. That timing is the source of a frequent mix-up: Meaden became one of the show's most recognisable investors, while Elnaugh holds the distinction of being the first woman on the UK panel.

Rachel Elnaugh left the programme after its second series. The distinction concerns the first female investor to appear in the British series, not the first woman to invest in a particular business or the first female Dragon across every international version of the franchise.