Who was the first female investor to join the UK television programme Dragons' Den?

Rachel Elnaugh was the first female investor to join the UK television programme Dragons' Den.

Elnaugh was an entrepreneur and businesswoman who became one of the original Dragons when the British series launched in 2005. Her business background was associated particularly with Red Letter Days, a company selling experience gifts. Her presence made her one of the programme’s earliest high-profile female investors.

Deborah Meaden is often remembered as the best-known early female Dragon, but she joined the programme after the first series. Meaden became a long-running member of the panel and is therefore sometimes mistakenly identified as the first woman to appear as a Dragon.

The original panel helped define the programme’s early identity. Alongside Elnaugh were Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Simon Woodroffe and Doug Richard. Elnaugh later left the regular panel, while the cast continued to change as the BBC commissioned additional series.