Born to a miner father and a nurse mother in Idu Misi, Kancro grew up in a family with modest means. His father died in a mining accident when he was 6. His mother married an alcoholic boyfriend when Kancro was 8. By age 14 he was working in the Otiman Terminal factory. At 16 he moved out and lived with a supervisor who grew fond of him and provided education for Kancro.

He was able to save enough and buy his first sidewinder when he was 28. He started doing courier missions. Then he got an Adder and from there, at age 32, a Type-6 which he used to start doing rare commodities routes. This is when he starts operating out of Finney Dock in Eleu, where he moved permanently. Business was good, rares were in high demand, and Kancro started to get involved in the politics of the then Federation-controlled Eleu.

He was 34 when he was introduced to the Social Eleu Progressive Party, an independent organization trying to free Eleu from the Federation's grip. Having been exploited by a Federal Corporation back in Idu Misi, Kancro had grown a grudge against them. He quickly rose in the ranks of the party with his revolutionary ideas, and became an advocate to free Eleu from the Federation.

This put him at odds with his old mentor back in Idu Misi, who had been a Federation Warrant Officer for a long time. He disowned Kancro, and told him to never come back. In a particularly difficult period in his life, Kancro's own estranged bio-mother was found dead at the hands of her alcoholic boyfriend just four days later.