Rachel Elnaugh was the first female investor to serve as a regular Dragon on the UK TV show Dragon's Den.
Elnaugh appeared on the original panel when the BBC series launched in 2005. Her background was in retail and entrepreneurship, particularly the Red Letter Days experience-gift company, which she co-founded with her husband, Simon Elnaugh.
Her tenure was short compared with some later investors, but her position is historically important because she was the programme's first regular woman investor. Deborah Meaden later became the best-known long-serving female Dragon, while Sara Davies and Kelly Hoppen joined in later series.
A common mix-up is to identify Meaden as the first female Dragon because she has remained prominent on the programme for many years. Elnaugh's distinction concerns the original regular panel, not the longest tenure or the largest number of televised deals. She left the show after its first series.